Algiers, Jan 22 (IANS): Algerian authorities on Wednesday handed over freed Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro to Spanish officials in a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Algiers.

Fernando Moran Calvo-Sotelo, Spain's Ambassador to Algeria, and the Secretary-General of the Algerian Foreign Ministry, Lounes Magramane, attended the event.

In a statement to the media, Navarro expressed his gratitude to Algeria for securing his release, noting that he remains in shock and needs a few days of rest to regain his serenity.

The Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General reaffirmed Algeria's condemnation of all acts of violence and terrorism worldwide, stressing that the country spared no effort in securing Navarro's freedom.

Magramane also urged the international community to unite against terrorism and cut its financial resources.

Navarro, who was on a tourist trip, was abducted on January 14 in the Algerian-Malian border by an armed group of five individuals, Xinhua news agency reported.

His release was announced earlier Tuesday by the Azawad Liberation Front, a coalition of Tuareg separatist groups in northern Mali.

Following his release, Navarro was flown late Tuesday from Tin Zouatin Airport in southern Algeria on a private aircraft to Boufarik military airbase, 40 km south of Algiers.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune thanked the security services and the cadres of the Ministry of National Defence for their "efficiency and confidentiality" during the operation to free the Spanish citizen.

According to the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), the Azawad Liberation Front, or the Mouvement National pour la Liberation de l'Azawad (MNLA), was founded in October 2011 following meetings held in northern Mali, largely among Tuareg communities. It was initially composed of a mixture of Tuareg returnees from the 2011 rebellion against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and defectors from the Malian defence and security forces.

The MNLA began its rebellion against the Malian state in January 2012, quickly spreading throughout northern Mali.