Concern is very high in Italy after the news of the kidnapping of Rocco Langone, 64, his wife Donata (63) and their son Giovanni (42) which took place in Mali and confirmed by the Farnesina.
“We are afraid because we know that whoever has taken our family members is very dangerous”, explains Vito Langone, brother of the head of the family. "I ask the Italian state to make them go home as soon as possible", he added, explaining that Rocco's other son, Daniele, "should have left this morning for the Farnesina".
Rocco Langone had moved to Mani due to the favorable climate, comments his sister Anna Maria, he was a worker and had retired. He lived in Brianza. The two had heard by phone a fortnight ago, "he was very happy".
Meanwhile, the president of the Basilicata Region (of which the family originates), Vito Bardi, has "heard again" the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio, and reiterated the need for " maximum confidentiality " on the matter.
The kidnapping took place on Thursday about ten kilometers from Koutiala, a hundred kilometers from the border with Burkina Faso and 300 from the Malian capital, Bamako. The kidnappers were in a vehicle. The Italians are Jehovah's Witnesses, like the Togolese captured with them, but - it was clarified by the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses of Senegal, responsible for the area - they were not in Mali on behalf of the religious movement.
(Unioneonline / ss)