NEW DELHI:
Father Tom Uzhunnalil from Kerala who was kidnapped in Yemen last year has been rescued, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted this afternoon.
“I am happy to inform that Father Tom Uzhunnalil has been rescued,” Sushma Swaraj posted on her Twitter account. Since his abduction Sushma Swaraj has made several statements on the government’s efforts to rescue his release, as they have been able to do in other such cases, including the release of an aid worker from Afghanistan.
Father Tom Uzhunnalil was abducted by ISIS in March 2016 after an attack on an old people’s home run by missionaries in the southern port city of Aden. Gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents at the home burst inside, killing 16 including four Indian nuns.
In a video released in May on a local news website, Father Tom pleaded for help. “They are treating me well to the extent they are able,” he said, speaking slowly in English.
“My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalization as early as possible,” he added in the recording. The date April 15, 2017 was written on a cardboard pasted on his body.
The Kerala priest said his kidnappers had contacted the Indian government and the Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates with their demands.
“My dear family people, do what you can to help me be released. Please, please do what you can to help to get me released. May God bless you for that,” he pleaded.
The Omani government confirmed in a statement on the Sultanate’s information ministry website that the priest was recovering in Muscat after being rescued, and posted photographs of the priest bearded, and looking frail, and standing by an airplane.
“In response to the Royal Orders of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and as per a request from the Vatican to assist in the rescuing of a Vatican employee, the concerned authorities in the Sultanate, in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, have managed to find a Vatican government employee. He was transferred this morning to Muscat in preparation for his return home,” the Omani government said in the statement.
The Omani government said Uzhannalil release had been secure with “Omani help” and that the “Vatican priest expressed thanks to God Almighty and appreciation to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. He also thanked his brothers and sisters and all relatives and friends who called on God for safety and release.”
