PARIS
A woman kidnapped in Yemen in February has been freed, the French presidency announced Friday.
Isabelle Prime, a 30-year-old French national, was working as a consultant for an international company in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa when she was abducted by unknown militants, along with her interpreter, Sherine Makawi.
Although Makawi was freed in March, Prime lingered on in captivity, appearing in a June video pleading for both French and Yemeni presidents to secure her release.
On Friday, the French presidency announced, "Prime is currently under the protection of French services. She will join our country in the coming hours," but did not give details of how she was freed.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Prime will return to France on Friday evening and would be welcomed by her family as well as President Francois Hollande.
Speaking to French channel BFMTV, Fabius denied that Paris paid any ransom to ensure Prime’s freedom.
"France does not pay but we are at the same time very attentive to the human reality. What counts at the end … is that we end up recovering our own," he said.
"You can imagine these are complicated negotiations," Fabius added before going on to thank neighboring Oman for its “help”.
Fabius emphasized that Prime is "the last French-national hostage around the world".
