Vienna - After eight months in captivity, two Austrians kidnapped by a terrorist group in Tunisia were freed Thursday night in Mali, Austria's foreign ministry announced Friday.

Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 43, spent their holiday driving around the Sahara near the Algerian border in February, when they were taken hostage, allegedly by the group al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

Following months of protracted negotiations, ransom demands and numerous deadlines set and extended by the alleged terrorists, the couple were set to fly home Saturday, Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said.

"It's like a weight was taken off my heart. I can hardly grasp it," Austrian news agency APA quoted Kloiber's mother Christine Lenz as saying.

"Both are currently under the protection of the Mali army and are on their way to the capital Bamako," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in a statement.

Plassnik left Vienna for Bamako Friday afternoon to meet the kidnap victims, who are in relatively good health, according to Mali authorities.

Less than one month after the couple from Hallein in Salzburg province were reported missing, al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb claimed to have carried out the kidnapping.

The group reportedly demanded a ransom payment of 5 million euros (6.5 million dollars), as well as the release of five members of their group from Algeria and Tunisia.

When asked by Austrian news agency APA whether the government had paid ransom, Plassnik answered: "We always sought a humanitarian solution. That's why it took very long."

Algerian media reported in March that the alleged terrorists had led their victims from Tunisia across Algeria to Mali.

In January, the Paris-Dakar desert rallye was cancelled for the first time after al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb had made threats to authorities in Mauretania.

The group was said to be responsible for the killings of eight Algerian police officers at the eastern city of el-Oued on February 3, according media reports. (dpa)