Four men from France kidnapped in 2010 by Al Qaeda were freed after being held hostage in Niger, Reuters reported.
French President Francois Hollande made the announcement on Tuesday and said during a talk in Slovakia that they would be back home immediately.
"I want to express all my gratitude to the President of Niger who obtained the release of our compatriots," Hollande said during a news conference in Bratislava.
A French official said the hostages are still in Niger though France's foreign and defense ministers traveled to Niamey to meet them.
In September, a video featuring the four men was released by Al Qaeda. In the footage, French citizen Daniel Larribe, 61, said "I am in good health but threatened with death.''
Al Qaeda claimed the men were healthy but would be killed if their governments don't negotiate for their release. The group of hostages included the four Frenchmen, one Dutchman, one Swede, and one South African.
Larribe's wife, Francoise, was kidnapped by Al Qaeda as well but was released in 2011.
Pierre Legrand, Thierry Dol, and Marc Feret were named as the four other hostages from France.
The four men from France were taken by Al Qaeda in the Maghreb region of Africa, near a uranium mine they worked at in Mali. The rest of the men were captured in Timbuktu on Nov. 25, 2011.
The video was recorded on Jun. 27 of this year, according to reports by Agence Nouakchott d'Information, and was the first video of them since September 2012.
