Top Greek tycoon freed for ransom

A top Greek tycoon, who was kidnapped two weeks ago, has been freed unharmed, after his family paid a ransom.

Giorgos Mylonas, 49, who heads Greece's Alumil Aluminium company, said he had been treated well, although "I have not seen the light of day for 13 days".

Mr Mylonas was seized at gunpoint from his car outside his home in Thessaloniki on 9 June.

"Only I and my wife know the precise amount, not even the police know that," he said, referring to the ransom.

However, the AFP news agency quoted police sources saying it was 12 million euros (£9.5m).

There was no confirmation of this.

Police suspect that five people were involved in the abduction - three gunmen, a driver and the mastermind behind the kidnapping.

"For me it was a bad experience," said Mr Mylonas. "But, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

The industrialist, who is chairman of the Federation of Industries of Northern Greece, said he would step down to spend more time with his wife and three children.

Abductions and extortion by criminal gangs occur more frequently than the Greek authorities admit because they are settled quietly and out of the public eye by the payment of a ransom, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

But the Mylonas case was in the media spotlight and prompted the tycoon's family to urge journalists to act with restraint, saying that intense coverage was putting the industrialist's life at risk, our correspondent says.