France wants to contact an al-Qaeda group which seized five of its citizens and two others at a uranium mine in Niger last week, a minister has said.
"What we want is, firstly, for al-Qaeda at some point to at least put some demands on the table," Defence Minister Herve Morin told French radio.
A French military team is in Niger to help find the hostages who include a Togolese and a Malagasy national.
The militants killed a French hostage after a failed rescue bid in July.
France's foreign ministry has confirmed that a claim from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that it took the latest hostages is genuine.
A new statement attributed to the group appeared on Islamist forums on Thursday, warning France against trying to rescue its citizens.
France's top police officer has warned that the country is facing a "peak" terror threat, such as a conventional bomb attack on a crowded target, and he named AQIM as a particular threat.
BBC News
