DOUALA, Cameroon - A French family with four young children kidnapped at gunpoint by Islamic extremists in northern Cameroon was freed after two months of captivity in what the father described as especially harsh conditions. The group returned to safety Friday in the Cameroonian capital.
Cameroonian television showed the family of seven - four children, who the French media reported were 5 to 12 years old, their parents and their uncle - stepping off an airplane. A man who had grown a thick beard was carrying the smallest child. All appeared thin but walked steadily. Officials from France and Cameroon offered no details on how the family was freed overnight, and it was not clear whether there were concessions to the kidnappers.
Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, an expatriate employee for a French company and father of the family, said in a brief radio interview that the group learned their its release was imminent just a few hours beforehand, and that the family’s return to safety went well.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 04/20/2013