Johan Gustafsson held a 50 minute press conference today.
In swedish. Lots of interesting information.
Surprisingly he says they spent several months in Timbuktu, where they recorded videos and took pictures. Most of their captors and guards were young tuaregs or arabs. There were also a few Moroccans and other foreigners, including one Brit. Occasionally a leader who could speak a little French or Arab. The leaders were often Algerian.
He made an escape attempt after the first year. They were not restricted so he could just leave one night, after gathering water bottles and making a plan. He walked two nights and hid two days without finding any traces of anything, no wells or tracks, nothing. Then they found him and he was taken back to the camp.
They changed camps often, and he would build a shack for himself at every camp.
After operation Barkhane started, there was a lot of movement and they hid vehicles and themselves carefully, as every day there were surveillance flights in the air above.
Wounded fighters returned from the front and he understood there had been many casualties from the French led operation. There was also internal strife and regrouping of their captors.
He spent all five years with the McGown. After the first hard year, the rest was relatively easy, as he accustomed himself to the situation. He converted to islam, as it felt natural but also not serious since it was not really done voluntarily. Everyday he followed a routine with a lot of exercise to stay healthy.
He appears to be in very good shape, physically and mentally.
https://www.svtplay.se/video/1474612...t-10-aug-09-50

Thanks for info. I remember reading Fowler's book how they elected to a daily routine of making a few laps of the camp and they were sure it helped keep them sane. But that was only 4 months.

I wonder if that and the 'conversion' make the ordeal more tolerable.

According to Gustafsson the conversion meant that communicating and being with the locals became easier. You have probably heard of the Stockholm syndrome, where the captives start sympathizing with their captors as a logical mental process where survival comes first. Gustafsson seems to have avoided that, keeping his balance, but not bearing grudge against the young guards and collaborating as necessary to make everyday more tolerable. Trying to learn tamasheq and arab. Being allowed to hear the news on the radio and getting and sending messages to family and media. McGown was according to Gustafsson less amicable towards the locals.
We have all wondered what it would be like to be kidnapped, I guess, since it could have been you or me. The first month was the worst, absolutely, since they were beaten badly after several hours rough drive being tied up on the bed of a Landcruiser.
Then twenty days passed before the three of them were given a bucket of water so they could clean up a little. After the first year he felt acclimatized to the environment, the food, the water, the wind and the sand, the heat and cold and his general predicament. The last four and a half years were easier. He said the desert was amazing, and he would look forward to travelling again. Not all of us have the stamina he has shown.
From his story I gather they were kept in the north, not far from Algeria. Perhaps in the same area where we figured Fowler and Guay were kept, in the Tessalit region.
The Dutchman was accidentally found in a building in Tessalit in april 2015.

johan gustafsson on the men who held him hostage
 

FYI...

https://carteblanche.dstv.com/stephe...ded-interview/


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Some info

the hostages were driven straight to Timetrine after the kidnapping, around 20 hrs drive

then they were moved to north of Kidal.

After Timbuktu fell, they were held in the city for one month, and interviewed by AlJazeera.

Then when Operation Serval started, they were moved to an area between Timbuktu-Araouane and the Maure border, where they spent the remaining 4 years of captivity. They were in the dunes then, which surprised me as there is no forest or mountains there where they can hide. And not far from the enemy troops in TB2.
Hardly any travellers have visited this region over the last ten years, but is there someone here familiar with the terrain?

No but I know someone who will be who is up in that region a lot ... what do you want to know in particular?

Position of waterholes in particular.
Afact there is really nothing there, besides sand dunes and flat desert.

Stephen McGown has come up for air