Free: David Bolam (pictured in an
undated YouTube video) has been released after being captured by Islamic
militants in Libya five months ago
The
British teacher held hostage for five months in Libya was released
after a ransom was paid to militants, a report claims today.
David
Bolam, 53, who was principal at the International School in the coastal
city of Benghazi, was abducted in May, but it was not reported at the
request of the government and his family.
A source said his release came after 'negotiations involving local political factions', but BBC News reports that money was handed over to his captors.
A
ransom demand had been made to the school, according to the report, but
it was unclear how much was paid and who raised the cash.
Mr
Bolam flew back to the UK on Thursday night. His freedom came as
Islamic State militants in Syria killed a second British hostage after
the UK government refused to pay for their release.
A
video purporting to show the beheading of taxi driver Alan Henning,
from Salford, Greater Manchester, was circulated on the Internet on
Friday. Mr Henning was snatched by militants while delivering aid in the
IS-occupied city of Al-Dana.
His
killing came three weeks after a video was published purporting to show
the beheading of another British aid worker, David Haines, who was
abducted while accessing refugee camps in the north of Syria.
Since
Mr Henning's murder, his family have accused the government of not
doing enough to try to rescue him or otherwise secure his release.
In
August, a group of rebel militants called Jaysh al-Islam – Army of
Islam – issued a video of Mr Bolam, from Craven Arms, Shropshire,
appealing to David Cameron to help with his release.
Looking haggard and having grown a long beard, he said he had been held for a ‘very long time’ but that his health was ‘good’.
He
also mentioned a prisoner swap by the United States – most likely
referring to the exchange of five Afghan Taliban officials for US
soldier Bowe Bergdahl.
He
stated: ‘I ask the British Government and Prime Minister David Cameron:
Please, please, please do the same to allow me to go home, back to my
family.
‘And
I ask my family and friends and anyone else who hears this: Please can
you do something to let the Government understand I need to go home
soon.
'Please, please do something to help me.’
Murdered:
Allan Henning, left, from was murdered by Islamic State militants this
week, three weeks after the murder of David Haines, right. Both had been
delivering humanitarian aid to refugees in northern Syria
Since
the fall of former Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Benghazi,
where the uprising began, has been left a lawless place where Islamist
militias do battle with criminal gangs.
In
2012, the U.S. envoy to the city was killed when militants stormed the
consulate, setting fire to the building, in protest over a film they
believed insulted their religion.
A
former teacher at the International School in Benghazi said most other
teachers had left after a 'massive gunfight' near the grounds and the
fatal shooting of a colleague.
Ged O'Connor Challis told BBC News said Mr Bolam had stayed on when others left because he 'believed in what he was doing.'
He
called Mr Bolam 'single-minded and stubborn' but added: 'He is a very
bright person. He is an English teacher - one of the best I have ever
met.'
Libya after Gaddafi: A Libya Dawn fighter points at a building charred by fire in fighting between rival factions
Benghazi: The U.S. Consulate in
Benghazi is seen in flames during a protest by an armed group said to
have been protesting a film being produced in the United States
September 11, 2012. (File picture)
The
Foreign Office said in a statement: ‘We are glad that David Bolam is
safe and well after his ordeal, and that he has been reunited with his
family.
'We have been supporting his family since he was taken. We do not comment on the detail of hostage cases.’
The Foreign Office was reportedly not involved in the ransom negotiations that secured his release.
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