Kerala priest rescued in Yemen with Oman’s help

An Indian priest kidnapped by gunmen in Yemen last year has been freed, Oman’s state news agency ONA said yesterday, posting a picture of him appearing in good health after being transferred to the Omani capital Muscat.Father Tom Uzhunnalil from Kerala was abducted in March 2016 when four unidentified gunmen attacked a care home in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, killing four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard.ONA said Omani authorities had co-ordinated with “Yemeni parties” to locate Uzhunnalil and transfer him to the sultanate.He will return to India, it said, without mentioning which group had been holding him in Yemen.“I am happy to inform that Father Tom Uzhunnalil has been rescued,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter.Oman has frequently helped facilitate the release of foreign nationals detained in Yemen.The ONS picture showed the white-bearded Catholic priest standing in a room in front of a portrait of Oman’s ruler Sultan Qaboos.In video footage from Oman TV, Uzhunnalil is seen arriving in Muscat.He disembarks from a Royal Air Force of Oman plane unaided, but struggles as he makes his way down the steps to the tarmac.“I wish first and foremost to thank God almighty for this day,” the priest said before thanking Sultan Qaboos and those who prayed for his release.Later, the priest left Muscat on board a Royal Oman Air Force aircraft for an audience with the Pope in Vatican.Uzhannallil is an employee of the Vatican, which has been engaged in talks with various quarters for his release.The Oman government took the lead in getting him released after a papal representative visited Oman last month and had an audience with Sultan Qaboos.Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed happiness at the priest’s release.“The Kerala government will now extend all the help that is needed for his treatment and other things,” Vijayan said in a Facebook post.Former chief minister Oommen Chandy said the abduction took place while he was in office in 2016.“We did everything possible and the efforts of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is laudable, who was always willing to give her best. We are all really happy at his release,” said Chandy.Newly-sworn in Minister of State for Tourism, IT and Electronics K J Alphons, from whose Kottayam district the priest hails, said the release became a reality because of concerted team effort.“Special thanks to Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has to be said,” said Alphons.Expressing happiness at the news, the priest’s brother Mathew Uzhunnallil said their prayers have been finally answered.Uzhunnallil’s ancestral home in Ramapuram in Kottayam district is shut as two of his brothers live abroad, while another lives in Gujarat.Hearing the news, relatives of the priest gathered at the home of a relative who lives close by.“We have heard that he has been flown to Rome. He is attached to the Bangalore diocese and they also called us to tell the happy news,” said a close relative.Uzhunnalil, who is in his mid-50s, last appeared in a video circulated online in December 2016, in which he appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis to secure his freedom.Yemeni authorities have blamed the Islamic State group for last year’s attack.Al Qaeda, which is also active win the area, distanced itself from the mass shooting, saying that it was not involved.The internationally recognised government in war-torn Yemen is grappling with both an Iran-backed rebellion and a growing militant presence.Al Qaeda and IS have stepped up attacks in Aden, targeting mainly loyalists and members of a Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi rebels and their allies.President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has declared Aden to be Yemen’s temporary capital since Sanaa was seized by the rebels in September 2014.