Paris probes Al-Qaeda claim of kidnappings in Sahara

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for last week's abduction of seven people in Niger, as French military planes scour the Sahara in search of clues. France's Defence Minister, Herve Morin, said every effort was being made to track down the hostages, who are now thought to be in northern Mali.

AFP

The kidnappers are affiliated with an extremist group led by an Islamist, Abou Zeid, who is linked to Al-Qaeda, the Niger government said Tuesday.

Aqim has not demanded a ransom, but in an audio tape reportedly from Aqim spokesman Salah Abi Mohammed and played by Al-Jazeera, he warns the French goverment against any sort of "stupidity".

"In announcing our claim for this operation, we inform the French government that the mujahedeen will later transmit their legitimate demands," said Mohammed on the tape.

02:05

Paul Melly, Chatham House, London

Michael Woods

Paul Melly, an associate fellow in the Africa program at Chatham House, tells RFI that  if the seven have been taken hostage by Aqim, "it is possible Aqim is anxious not to give away its location because there have been a number of raids by security forces of Saharan countries on Aqim, mostly in Mali, actually," said Melly. He added that the hostage-takers had not contacted the media via satellite phone probably because they do not want to give their location away.

France's military presence does not necessarily mean that they will step up military activities, said Melly, especially considering that within the past two years, two out of 19 hostages have been killed. The rest have been released without major military manoeuvres.

The seven hostages include five French nationals, a Malagasy and a Togolese. All the hostages work for two different French companies,  Areva and Satom,  mining uranium in the region.

Melly says that the French presence in the region could be a signal of intent or a way to say that the hostages will not be taken off the national agenda. "France obviously has a huge strategic investment in the uranium industry in Niger. It's very important for Areva and the French nuclear industry as a source of supply," he said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he was "not really surprised that Al-Qaeda is behind this kidnapping". "Now that this is a certainty, we will continue - the French, our allies, the countries of the Sahel and Europe I hope...to put all the means at our disposal for [the hostages'] liberation", he said speaking from a UN summit in New York."

The Aqim army was born out of a radical Algerian group who wanted the Algerian government to be replaced with  Islamic rule, and aligned itself with Osama Bin Laden's network in 2006.