Stephen McGown, 37, and a fellow Swedish hostage are shown backed by four heavily-armed men, and hold brown envelopes with letters inside and the date 28.01.2012 written on them.
He speaks briefly, saying: "My name is Stephen Malcolm McGown. I am being held by al-Qaeda. Today I received this letter from my country. I am healthy and they are treating me well."
Mr McGown, who has dual British-South African nationality, appears alongside another hostage, Johan Gustafsson, a Swedish national, and both men sport long beards.
The video, which appears to have been filmed in January, was posted on YouTube last week and constitutes the first proof that they are alive since an initial picture was taken of them shortly after they were snatched from a restaurant in Timbuktu, Mali, along with Dutch national Sjaak Rijke.
In April, an unverified statement on an Islamic website claimed Mr McGown would be released if Britain sent the radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada to an "Arab Spring" country rather than deporting him to Jordan, where he faces imprisonment over terrorist charges.
If Britain ignored the offer, the statement added, it would "bear the consequences". » | Aislinn Laing | Johannesburg | Thuesday, July 17, 2012
