Kidnapped aid worker back home after 14 months in captivity
AN AID worker kidnapped 18 months ago in East Africa has arrived home to Italy a day after being freed.
Gunmen seized Silvia Romano, who was working for an Italian charity called Africa Milele, in northern Kenya in November 2018.
She was found in Somalia, about 30km outside the capital of Mogadishu, and was released thanks to efforts by the external intelligence agency, Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.
Ms Romano touched down at Rome’s Ciampino Airport aboard a special flight at about 2pm.
“I am well, luckily, both physically and mentally. I now want to spend time with my family. I am so happy to be back after all this time,” Ms Romano said at the airport.
Escorted by masked men from the intelligence service, Ms Romano wore a green tunic pulled up to cover her head but not her face.
Italian news agency ANSA, citing investigative sources, reported that she had converted to Islam during her time in captivity.
Ms Romano temporarily removed her protective mask to wave as she descended the steps from the Italian air force jet before hugging relatives including mother Francesca Fumagalli, sister Giulia Romano and father Enzo Romano.
She was greeted by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Mr Di Maio.
In her home neighbourhood in Milan, church bells saluted her arrival, with many people standing on their balconies to listen.
Ms Romano was expected to meet prosecutors in Rome later yesterday for a debriefing on her captivity.
Mr Conte said that the taskforce working to free Ms Romano had been in the final stages “for the last months”, after having proof that she was still alive. He added that details were not revealed so as to not compromise the operation.
“We are so glad to welcome Silvia back in such a delicate moment for the country. The state is always there, and will always be there,” Mr Conte said.
He thanked efforts from the intelligence services, the judiciary and the defence and foreign ministries, all involved in the release.
Italian newspapers reported that Italy’s intelligence services had worked with their Somali and Turkish counterparts to free Ms Romano.
“I am literally bursting with joy at this moment. But it is hard even only to think, please let me breathe. I need to withstand the shock, my happiness is so big that it is exploding,” Silvia’s father Enzo said.
‘I am literally bursting with joy. My happiness is so big that it is exploding’