VILLACOUBLAY, France // A French hostage, held captive for three years by Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch, has been welcomed home by President Francois Hollande.

Serge Lazarevic, who was France’s last hostage abroad, arrived at Villacoublay airport outside Paris on Wednesday, after being released in what some suspect was a prisoner exchange.

The 51-year-old was being held by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, after being kidnapped in north-eastern Mali in November 2011.

The case has revived questions about whether governments should negotiate with hostage-takers in an attempt to save captives’ lives – and at the risk of encouraging terrorists to continue kidnapping.

Mr Lazarevic repeatedly thanked the French president and government “for having done everything to free me,” but neither he nor Mr Hollande detailed what led to the release.

The Frenchman’s liberation came days after the release of two Al Qaeda fighters who were imprisoned in Mali for his kidnapping, a security official in Mali said.

Conservative politician Alain Marsaud confirmed that France offers ransom for hostage releases.

“It’s true that we negotiate, we pay, and we try to get results,” Mr Marsaud told the BFM television network. With the former hostage by his side, Mr Hollande expressed “extraordinary joy” at Mr Lazarevic’s return on Wednesday, before urging French citizens not to travel to areas where they risk being kidnapped.

The French military is fighting extremists in Africa and the Middle East. Both ISIL and Al Qaeda branches in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula have identified France and French citizens as potential targets.

Mr Lazarevic and another French citizen, Philippe Verdon, were kidnapped from their hotel while working for a cement factory, their families have said. Mr Verdon was found killed last year.

France insists it pays no ransoms and does not exchange prisoners, although Mr Hollande has acknowledged that other countries have done so, “to help us.” He credited the governments of Mali and Niger with helping to secure Mr Lazarevic’s release.

* Associated Press