S. African hostage killed in Yemen raid just before release: charity

A South African hostage has been killed in a failed raid to free captives held by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, with his death coming a day before he was to be released after more than a year in captivity, a charity said on Saturday.

“We received with sadness the news that Pierre (Korkie) was killed in an attempt by American Special Forces, in the early hours of this morning, to free hostages in Yemen,” said the Gift of the Givers group, which has been negotiating his release.

“The psychological and emotional devastation to (his wife) Yolande and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was to be released by Al-Qaeda tomorrow,” it said.

Korkie was seized along with his wife in May 2013 in Yemen’s second city of Taiz by members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The couple from the central South African city of Bloemfontein had worked as teachers in Yemen for four years at the time of their capture.

Yolande was released in January following mediation by Gift of the Givers, which said that Pierre was just hours from being freed when US special forces launched an operation to free the Qaeda hostages, including American captive Luke Somers.

“A team of Abyan leaders met in Aden this morning and were preparing the final security and logistical arrangements, related to hostage release mechanisms, to bring Pierre to safety and freedom,” the charity said.

“All logistical arrangements were in place to safely fly Pierre out of Yemen under diplomatic cover, then to meet with family members in a ‘safe’ country, fly to South Africa, and directly to hospital for total medical evaluation and appropriate intervention.

“It is even more tragic that the words we used in a conversation with Yolande at 5.59 this morning was ‘the wait is almost over.’

“Three days ago we told her ‘Pierre will be home for Christmas’. We certainly did not mean it in the manner it has unfolded.”

– ‘Murdered by terrorists’ –

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the hostages’ captors killed them during the raid.

“Both Mr. Somers and a second non-US citizen hostage were murdered by the AQAP terrorists during the course of the operation,” Hagel said, without specifying the name of the other captive killed.

Hundreds of people have been abducted in Yemen in the past 15 years, nearly all of whom have been freed unharmed.

Most kidnappings of foreigners are carried out by members of Yemen’s powerful tribes who use them as bargaining chips in disputes with the central government.

Korkie’s captors had demanded a ransom of $3 million (2.2 million euros), and his wife launched a public appeal for the money after she was freed in January.

Negotiations for his release broke down temporarily in January 2014 after the kidnappers accused a member of the negotiating team of stealing the ransom money.

Korkie was suffering from a hernia and was said to have gone deaf while in captivity.