PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed Wednesday to mobilize his government to free five French people abducted last week by an al-Qaida affiliate in Niger, calling it a "very serious and worrying affair," according to a government spokesman.
Al-Qaida's North African branch has claimed responsibility for last Thursday's abductions, in which armed men snatched the five, plus two of their African colleagues — and the French Foreign Ministry confirmed the authenticity of the claim.
The French military has flown reconnaissance jets over the Sahara to search for the hostages. France has a military presence in some of its former colonies in West Africa.
French media reported Wednesday that France has requested U.S. help in winning the hostages' release. The U.S. Embassy in Paris would not comment on the reports. Asked to confirm that such a request had been made, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said, "We are cooperating with all the countries involved the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region, (including) with our main allies and partners".
Six of the seven hostages worked at a huge uranium mine in northern Niger run by French state-owned nuclear power giant Areva. The seventh was married to an Areva employee.
The ministry has "not received any proof of life, but we have good reason to think that the hostages are alive," Nadal said in an online briefing on Wednesday.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility in a recording broadcast Tuesday by the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera. On the recording, a member of the group said it would issue its demands to the French government shortly. The group operates throughout a broad swath of desert countries in northwest Africa and has increasingly targeted French interests there.
French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said the hostages have been spirited from Niger to neighboring Mali. Hortefeux was in Mali on Wednesday for the country's 50th anniversary celebrations, and was scheduled to discuss the kidnappings with Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure.
Associated Press
