Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday welcomed the return to Italy of 25-year-old aid worker Silvio Romano who was seized in East Africa in 2018 and held by suspected Islamist group al-Shabab.
"Thanks to women and women working for the Italian state, Silvia is now back home. That is all that matters...she is alive and well," Di Maio tweeted.
Di Maio and Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte on Sunday met Romano on her arrival at Ciampino airport near Rome.
A native of Milan, Romano, who converted to Islam while was a hostage, has been reunited with her family.
Romano said she had not been mistreated in captivity and was feeling well, both "physically and mentally".
Italy's secret service is said to have been assisted by Turkey and Somalia to secure Romano's release and a ransom is believed to have been paid.
No group has claimed responsibility for Romano's abduction from a small rural hotel in Kilifi, southeast Kenya, in November 2018.
