French rescue fails, two hostages killed in Niger

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110108/wl_nm/us_niger_kidnap

French rescue fails, two hostages killed in Niger

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi and Irish Abdoulaye Massalatchi And Irish –

Sat Jan 8, 5:17 pm ET

NIAMEY/PARIS (Reuters) – France said two of its nationals were found dead,

apparently executed by their kidnappers, after French special forces joined a

failed attempt to rescue them Saturday in the African state of Niger.

It was the second abortive French hostage rescue since July in the arid Sahel

region where Paris says it is at war with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

(AQIM), the North African arm of Osama bin Laden's network.

" At this stage, everything makes us believe that they were executed by the

terrorists, " Armed Forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.

He said the special forces, sent to the region in September after a previous

kidnapping, coordinated the rescue attempt with Niger's forces after spotting

the abductors from one of their surveillance aircraft. Three kidnappers were

killed, he added.

The two victims were abducted from a bar overnight, bringing to eight the number

of French nationals snatched in the African country 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 flourish.

" The head of state condemns this barbaric and cowardly act, " French President

Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement. " Rather than weakening our resolve, this

heinous crime strengthens our commitment to fight this barbaric terrorism. "

" STRONG MESSAGE "

It was not immediately clear who carried out the latest kidnapping, but security

analyst Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, a former Malian defense minister, said it bore

the hallmark of an operation by groups linked to al Qaeda in the region.

" This is an escalation...It is a sign that they are determined to attack states

and Western interests to create a zone of insecurity, " he told Reuters.

Former French counter-terrorism chief Louis Capriol predicted more such attacks.

" They are sending a strong message. We can hit you when and where we want, " he

said.

French media named the dead men as Antoine De Leocour, working for charity Aide

Medicale Internationale, and his friend Delory, who had just arrived in

Niamey to attend De Leocour's wedding. Both were 25 and from Linselles,

northeast France.

A Nigerien government source told Reuters their bodies had been flown back to

Niamey.

Last July another French hostage, Michel Germaneau, 78, was killed by AQIM after

a failed French rescue mission in Mali following his abduction in Niger.

KIDNAPPERS IN TURBANS WITH GUNS

Search operations were launched Saturday after witnesses said several men

wearing turbans entered the " Toulousain " bar in Niamey and took the two men away

in a car.

" Four men wearing turbans armed with automatic weapons entered the bar. Three

went straight to the table the Frenchmen were at while the other one remained at

the entrance, " said Mamane Rabiou Aboubacar, who was in the bar at the time.

" The attackers spoke in Arabic and then forced the Frenchmen to go with them. "

AQIM, which operates across West and North Africa's vast Sahara desert, is

holding another five French citizens, some of whom work for mining giant Areva.

They were among a group of seven foreigners kidnapped from the northern mining

town of Arlit in September last year.

Loic Garnier, head of the counter-terrorism section at France's Interior

Ministry, told Reuters earlier this week AQIM remained the single greatest

danger to French interests and citizens at home and abroad.

(Additional reporting by in Dakar, Yann Le Guernigou in

Port-au-Prince and Vignal in Paris; editing by Mark Trevelyan)