French Hostage killed, Says North African Qaeda Offshoot
An al-Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has said it has killed a 78-year-old French hostage being held in Mali, in an audio statement broadcast by al-Jazeera.
Leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelmalek Droukdel, said Michel Germaneau was killed on Saturday in revenge for a failed rescue raid by French and Mauritanian troops.
Six militants were killed in the cross-border operation on Thursday, he added.
French officials said there was no confirmation of Germaneau’s death adding that the reports werebeing investigated.
President Nicolas Sarkozy would hold an emergency meeting of his top defence and security officials on Monday.
Germaneau, a retired engineer, was kidnapped in Niger in April and was reportedly being held by Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, the leader of one of two al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb factions operating in the Sahara desert.
In a message posted on the internet last month, the group had said it would execute him by July 26 unless some of its members were released from prisons in several North African countries.
(Based on Media Reports)
