Italian businessman Sergio Zanotti who was held hostage in Syria for three years has been freed and is expected back home soon, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday.
“At the end of complex, delicate operations of information, investigation and diplomacy that took place simultaneously, we succeeded today in obtaining the release of Sergio Zanotti, kidnapped in Syria in April 2016,” Conte said in a statement.
“Our compatriot’s general condition appears to be good and he will return to Italy, to Rome, in a few hours,” the Italian premier added.
Italian media say Zanotti, 57, is a businessman who disappeared after leaving for Turkey, and that his ex-wife had received several messages in which he pleaded for help, or was threatened with execution.
The story of a 57-year-old businessman, who disappeared after leaving for Turkey, received publicity in the media after publishing a message on the website of the News Front agency. Recall that a certain Almed Medi, who called himself a jihadist from Syria, introduced himself as Abu Jihad, sent a message with an attached video clip to the head of the English department of News News.
Afterwards, News Front contacted colleagues and friends in Italy, passing on the information received. The agency had screenshots of correspondence with the alleged jihadist, as well as a photo of the prisoner’s passport.