Shropshire Star

Shropshire teacher freed by Islamic militants set to return home

Hostage David Bolam is expected to return to his Shropshire home following his dramatic release from an Islamic terror group in Libya.

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Mr Bolam, 63, who lives in Craven Arms with his wife Marion, was released by Islamic militants following secret negotiations and the payment of a ransom.

He worked at the International School in Benghazi and was abducted in May this year.

Teacher David Bolam was abducted in May this year

But a cloak of secrecy was thrown over his plight as work continued behind the scenes to secure his freedom.

Parties within Libya linked to the school where he worked are thought to have paid the ransom to the kidnappers.

The British Government has a policy of never paying ransoms and was not involved in the talks.

MP Philip Dunne, who had been working with Mr Bolam's family during the ordeal, expressed delight that he has been released and allowed to return home after his four-month ordeal.

Mr Dunne, who represents Ludlow, was aware of the kidnapping but observed a news blackout imposed by the Foreign Office.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted that David Bolam has returned home to his family in Craven Arms having been released from being held in Libya.

"I have been in touch with his wife during his ordeal over recent months and know how relieved she is that he has returned safely home.

The International School in Benghazi where Mr Bolam was a teacher

"David is a dedicated teacher who had returned to Benghazi to help rebuild the international school of which he was the director, after he had been evacuated during the Arab Spring.

"He was trying to help young people in Libya gain a good education.

"I share in the joy and relief of his family and friends that he has been released and returned safely home."

Michael Aron, the UK's ambassador to Libya, also welcomed Mr Bolam's release, tweeting:

It emerged today that Mr Bolam decided to stay at the school as one of its senior members of staff despite warnings about the perilous security situation in Libya. He was abducted on a shopping trip and, on August 28, a video of Mr Bolam was released making a plea to David Cameron. Looking tired and dishevelled, Mr Bolam asked Mr Cameron to secure his release.

  • Watch the video of David Bolam making a plea to David Cameron for his release

In the video he begged the Prime Minister to agree to a hostage swap to secure his release..

He said: "I am a British teacher, my health is good at the moment, I have been here a very long time.

"I ask the British government and Prime Minister David Cameron - please allow me to go back to my family. I ask my family and friends, and anyone else who hears this, please can you do something to let the government understand I need to go home soon. Please, please do something to help me."

Today neighbours of Mr Bolam, in Brook Street, Craven Arms, said he and his wife had only bought a house in the area in the last year or so.

They spoke of seeing police at the house earlier this year when he was abducted, but otherwise say they knew nothing of his fate.

One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I don't really know them but that house must have been bought about a year ago or so I would say.

"But I know that they lived abroad. I do remember seeing a lot of police at the house in May, but no-one here seemed to know anything about it.

Brook Street, Craven Arms,

"I saw the woman who lives there for the first time the other week and just said hello, but no more than that."

Mr Bolam and his wife had also lived at the small village of New Invention, near Clun, about 10 years ago.

The woman who bought the property from them in the village said she had not met them as the sale was carried out while they were living abroad.

Mr and Mrs Bolam have been reunited at a secret location and are expected to be returning to their Brook Street home this week.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal, and that he has been reunited with his family.

"We have been supporting his family since he was taken."

She added: "We do not comment on the detail of hostage cases. The family have asked for privacy."

Colleagues of David Bolam today paid tribute to his bravery in staying on to help at his school despite warnings of security dangers.

David Bolam, left, at a school function

Teacher Ged O'Connor Challis taught at the International School along with his wife Siobhan but had left by the time Mr Bolam was abducted in May.

He said he had spoken to Mr Bolam on the phone on the morning he was kidnapped, and school staff later said "one of the local militias had grabbed David as he went out shopping".

Mr O'Connor Challis said Mr Bolam stayed in Libya when other staff left because he "believed in what he was doing".

"He is single-minded and stubborn," he said. "He is a very bright person. He is an English teacher – one of the best I have ever met."

Teachers had wanted to stay at the school, Mr O'Connor Challis said, but a "massive gunfight" in November 2013 and the fatal shooting of teacher Ronnie Smith in December were part of growing violence which convinced many to leave.

Mr Bolam, 63, insisted on staying put, but paid the price by suffering a four-month ordeal at the hands of Islamic militants.

It was today unclear how much money was paid for his release and who paid it, other than that financial demands were made to the school. The Foreign Office was not involved in the negotiations.

Mr Bolam was the headteacher of the Hartlebury School, near Kidderminster, before leaving the country about 10 years ago when the school fell into financial difficulties.

The Foreign Office said in a statement: "We are glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal, and that he has been reunited with his family.

"We have been supporting his family since he was taken. We do not comment on the detail of hostage cases."

Benghazi, where the uprising against Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi began, was seen as an attractive and modern city that welcomed Westerners. But it is now in chaos, ruled by Islamist militias and criminal gangs.

News of Mr Bolam's release comes after a number of hostages held by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq were killed, including aid worker Alan Henning.

Dr Evan Lawrence, a visiting lecturer in security and counter-terrorism at Staffordshire University, said Mr Bolam's kidnappers differed in many ways from the IS terrorists operating in Syria and Iraq.

She said: "Libyan groups are much less organised, much less funded and much more willing to negotiate for demands and actual things on the ground.

"IS is a much more religious group who are more interested in provoking the West than getting the money as they are very well funded. It is very hard to tell with this kind of thing.

"We as the public hear very little about what security services actually did. And the security services and Home Office won't be telling his family everything they did either."

Charlie Cooper, of counter-extremism think-tank the Quilliam Foundation, said the difference between the treatment of Mr Bolam and Mr Henning was "indicative of the huge difference between other jihadist groups and Islamic State".

He added: "Islamic State is profoundly more extreme in its outlook and in its ideological motivations."

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