Freed al Qaeda hostage says becoming Muslim helped him in ordeal

Released South African Stephen McGowan, who was kidnapped by al Qaeda in Mali in 2011, addresses a media conference with his wife Catherine McGowan in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 10, 2017. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - After nearly six years as a hostage of the Al Qaeda group in Mali, South African tourist Stephen McGowan said he would keep the beard that brushes his chest when he bows to speak into the microphone.

McGowan was released last month after being kidnapped, along with four other foreigners, while touring Mali on motorbikes. One, a German, was killed in the kidnapping. A Dutch hostage was freed in 2015 in a raid by French special forces and a Swede was released in June this year.