Al Qaeda-linked militants in North Africa released their last French hostage whom they held captive for nearly three years.

Freed fifty-year-old engineer Serge Lazarevic is France's last hostage abroad. Lazarevic appeared at the French embassy in Niamey on Tuesday, with Mahamadou Issoufou, the president of Niger who played a big part in securing the Frenchman's release.

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The former hostage thanked the people of Niger who helped France to get him freed. He said he lost 20 kilograms but he is doing well.

Before his release, Lazarevic was shown in a video put up by AQIM asking French President Francois Hollande to help free him. Hollande is expected to greet Lazarevic on Wednesday at Villacoublay airport near Paris, the president's office said.

"France has no more hostages in any part of the world," Hollande said in Paris. 

France sent thousands of ground forces to deal with al Qaeda-linked groups in Mali last year but it counted on locals to help free several hostages held in the Sahara area of north Africa.

A newspaper in Mali, quoting two anonymous sources, reported five Islamist extremists held in Mali were released in exchange for Lazarevic's freedom.

The sources and Mali newspaper L'Independent reported two Malians who were suspected of masterminding the 2011 kidnapping were among those freed. One of the suspects managed to flee in the middle of a prison break in Bamako that left two people dead in June but authorities later managed to recapture him.

Niger's president said his government and authorities from Mali were involved in the release, but none of those involved made a statement on the reported exchange.

Hollande was quoted in September as saying that his government neither paid ransoms nor traded hostages for prisoners. He did admit though that other countries paid ransom and exchanged prisoners for the Frenchman's release. 

TagsFrench hostage, Al-qaeda, Fracois Hollande, Serge Lazarevic, Mahamadou Issoufou, North Africa