FILE - This July 2011 handout photo provided by the Sceaux City Hall, north of Paris, shows French priest Georges Vandenbeusch. Vandenbeusch was kidnapped in Cameroon in mid-November has been set free, President Francois Hollande's office said Tuesday Dec. 31, 2013. Vandenbeusch was kidnapped by heavily armed men on Nov. 13 in the far north of Cameroon, about 18 miles (30 kilometers) from the border with Nigeria (AP Photo/Sceaux City Hall, File) (The Associated Press)
PARIS – A French priest kidnapped by Islamic radicals in Cameroon and held for seven weeks has arrived back in France.
A smiling Father Georges Vandenbeusch descended from the plane at a military airport near Paris on Wednesday and shook hands with President Francois Hollande, who was waiting on the tarmac.
There was never a claim of responsibility for the Nov. 13 kidnapping near the Nigerian border, but suspicion fell on the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram or one of its splinter groups.
Each time French hostages are freed, there is speculation about whether — or how much — ransom was paid. France insists, this time included, that it does not pay ransom.
Instead, Hollande credited the "relentless" work of authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria, but provided no details on the release.
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