Paris, January 11: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Monday he was almost certain that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was behind the abduction of two Frenchmen killed in Niger at the weekend.
The pair were found dead, apparently killed by their kidnappers, after French special forces joined a failed attempt to rescue them in the African state on Saturday. The bodies were charred, with their hands tied behind their backs, according to two hospital sources in Niger who had seen them.
“We are almost certain that it was AQIM,” Fillon told journalists. AQIM is al Qaeda’s North African affiliate.
The two victims were abducted from a bar, bringing to eight the number of French people snatched in Niger since last April. They were the first to be seized in the capital Niamey, far from the lawless desert where Islamist militants, rebels and bandits operate.
Niger Foreign Minister Toure Aminata Djibrilla Maiga told reporters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, that Niger would not relent in combating terrorism.
“Niger is determined to fight terrorism in all of its forms. The army is engaged and will continue its combat against terrorism with the full support of the population,” Maiga said.
The minister said that three Nigerien soldiers were killed in the rescue attempt, along with four of the kidnappers.
“Increase your vigilance”
French Defence Minister Alain Juppe travelled to Niamey on Monday to meet Niger authorities and the French community. France has around 1,550 nationals in Niger.
“I did not come to tell you to leave, but to increase your vigilance,” he told a gathering of French expatriates, adding he had been assured by Niger authorities that they would help protect French interests.
Niger is the top supplier of uranium to the French nuclear power industry.
A high-ranking Nigerien military official told Reuters the two hostages had probably been executed before French and Niger forces clashed with the kidnappers, as their bodies were found some distance away.
“They were coldly eliminated, according to the initial information that I have,” Fillon said. “Of course the investigation will be deepened and the results will be made known to the families.”
A security official in neighbouring Mauritania, where AQIM also operates, told Reuters that three of the kidnappers were captured alive by the French and Nigerien joint force.
AQIM, which operates across West and North Africa’s vast Sahara desert, is holding another five French citizens, employees of French firms Areva and Vinci, taken from the northern mining town of Arlit in September.
AQIM also killed French tourist Michel Germaneau in July after kidnapping him in Niger three months earlier