Tourist held hostage by Al-Qaida for six years 'converted' to Islam to SURVIVE

Swede Johan Gustafsson was abducted from an African hostel at gunpoint in 2011 along with other tourists.

Speaking yesterday the survivor told of his harrowing experience fending for himself in the harsh southern Sahara Desert in Mali.

During a press conference, the 42-year-old thanked friends, family and “any others” who offered his loved ones messages of support while he was held captive.

“We saw Mali as a relatively stable place, we met other tourists wherever we were. I knew going into the desert was dangerous, but there was nothing to worry about in Timbuktu – if there was then i would have never gone there.

“I woke up one night to commotion outside and when I went to look outside a man pointed a Kalashnikov right at me. We stood there for a while before we were let out from the hotel when we saw Martin (a German tourist) was holding his hands up.

“They started to beat him as he passively refused to go with them. Maybe he felt like he would not be able to handle it.

“When I got in the back of the truck I heard two shots. We did not see it, but when our captors asked hat nationality he was they said they had killed him.”

The three captives Gustafson, Stephen McGown and Sjaak Rijke were then drive to into the desert and taken “up to one-hundred different camps” in the Sahara.