Freed Aussie woman says her husband is still alive!

OUAGADOUGOU: An Australian woman who was freed by al-Qaeda after three weeks in captivity said on Monday her husband who was seized with her in Burkina Faso was still alive and she hoped he too would be released soon.

Jocelyn Elliott, 76, gave no further details of the couple’s captivity but her comment provided the first confirmation that her husband, Dr Ken Elliott, 81, was still alive.

The couple were seized on Jan 15 from the town of Djibo near Burkina Faso’s border with Mali where they have operated a 120-bed clinic for over 40 years.

"I really hope to be with my husband soon so that we can again go to Djibo and continue our work," she told journalists after meeting Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Kabore.