Release in Benghazi

Two European women held in Niger since 2025 were freed and taken to Benghazi, in eastern Libya, on Wednesday, 21 October, according to the Libyan broadcaster al-Masar, which announced it overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. The Austrian is Eva Gretzmacher, 76, who was kidnapped in January 2025, and the Swiss is Claudia Abbt, 69, who was seized in April 2025 in Agadez, northern Niger. No party has publicly identified the captors, and the circumstances of the release have not been disclosed.

Credit to the Haftars

Al-Masar credited the intervention of Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief in eastern Libya, who acted in response to the families' appeals. In a video the channel broadcast, the two women sat beneath a portrait of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and spoke in French to thank their rescuers. Abbt, who gave her captivity as a year and six months, said she was glad to be free.

“Now I am happy to be free.”

Gretzmacher, who put her captivity at a year and nine months, thanked the marshal and his son in the same video.

“I thank from the bottom of my heart Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his son Saddam, who freed us.”

Reactions in Switzerland and Austria

Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger said Abbt was in good condition given the circumstances and was on her way back to Switzerland. Swiss staff received her in Benghazi, and she was given medical care there. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis voiced relief at her release after more than a year and a half and thanked parties in Switzerland and abroad. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs had set up a crisis unit after the kidnapping, made up of police, intelligence services, other federal agencies and cantonal authorities. RTS reported that the department had not yet commented publicly and that federal police officers had travelled to Niger at least once to advance negotiations.

In Vienna, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said everyone was deeply relieved that Eva G. was finally free after more than 21 months, and she thanked the Austrian diplomats involved. An Austrian crisis response team received Gretzmacher in Libya, according to the Austrian foreign ministry.

Diplomacy with Niamey

Switzerland kept direct channels open with Niamey after the July 2023 coup, unlike France, which sharply reduced its cooperation with Niger once the military took power, RTS reported. In May 2026, ambassador Philipp Stalder, head of the sub-Saharan Africa and Francophonie division at the department, was received in Niamey by Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, described by RTS as one of the leading figures of the military regime. In September 2026, Cassis met Nigerien representatives in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

Niger and Libya context

Niger has been under military control since 2023, when Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani deposed the elected President Mohamed Bazoum. Kidnappings have intensified in Niger over the last year, and jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have waged years of violence across the Sahel. RTS reported that the Islamic State in the Sahel held Abbt, while BBC noted that some earlier reports had linked the kidnapping to Islamic State militants. Libya is split between two administrations: the eastern one backed by Khalifa Haftar and the government in Tripoli, which is recognised by the UN and led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

Next steps

Air Info Agadez reported that a plane was expected to leave Benghazi on Thursday, 22 October, stopping first in Vienna to hand Gretzmacher to Austrian authorities before flying on to Switzerland with Abbt. Libyan officials said the women would be handed over to authorities in their home countries once the necessary procedures were complete.