Two suspected militants interrogated over French hostage killings

Two suspected militants are being interrogated by Niger authorities in connection with the deaths of the two Frenchmen found on Saturday 8th January.

The two victims, Antoine de Leocour and Vincent Delory, both 25, were found on the Niger-Mali border, shortly after France launched a specialist rescue mission in an attempt to free them.

Reports have emerged that Paris suspects Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to be behind the kidnapping and execution of the two men, however, no single group has yet claimed responsibility.

Four gunmen kidnapped the two men from a restaurant in Niger's capital, Niamey, last Friday [7th January], and killed them during the rescue mission. The French prime minister, Francois Fillon, said the kidnappers, “killed the hostages in cold blood”. A number of news agencies have quoted a medical source, who'd examined the victims, as saying the men, "had been tied up, their hands behind their backs, and they had black marks on their bodies…It was a horrific way to die”.

A Niger military chief offered a different view on the situation, saying that the hostages had most likely been "executed" before the failed attempt to rescue them. It has also emerged that three Niger soldiers and four militants had been killed during the operation, which involved French specialist forces and helicopters.

The French defence minister, Alain Juppe, backed France's decision to send a rescue mission, saying action had to be taken otherwise it would have been said that France “does not fight terrorism.” He flew out to Niger on Monday 10th January to assist both the French and Niger authorities with the investigations.

Sources: BBC News, All Headline News, News24, AFP

For more news and expert analysis about the Sahara region, please see Sahara Focus.

Two French hostages killed in Niger

The French defence minister, Alain Juppe, has defended France's decision to send a rescue mission for the French nationals abducted in the Niger capital Niamey. He said that France had to take action otherwise it would have been said that it “does not fight terrorism.”

It is believed that the two men were killed during the rescue mission. The bodies of Antoine de Leocour and Vincent Delory were discovered, after the undertaking to free them, on the Niger-Mali border.

De Leocour had worked in Niger for a couple of years and was due to get married to a local woman next week and Delory, who was to be his best man, had flown in for the wedding.

The two friends were kidnapped by four armed men from a restaurant in Niamey on Friday 8th January. The mission to free the hostages, both 25, involved French specialist forces and helicopters. Speaking about the rescue mission, authorised by President Nicolas Sarkozy, Juppe said "It was a serious, difficult decision but we took it and we take full responsibility.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but the French government suspects Al-Qai'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to be behind the killings. Both countries agree that the men were executed by their captors, however, there is no official proof to support this theory.

Juppe is travelling to Niger today [10th January] to meet with the country's authorities and assist the French investigators who were sent to the West African country after a French prosecutor opened a formal probe into the weekend deaths.

Sources: The Washington Post, BBC News, AP, Ahram Online

For more news and expert analysis about the Sahara region, please see Sahara Focus.