Sarkozy: French aid worker executed in Africa
PARIS, France
The French leader condemned the killing of Michel Germaneau and
said the killers "will not go unpunished."
Sarkozy made the announcement after convening an urgent meeting
of key ministers and military officials at the presidential Elysee
Palace, a day after al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb announced
Germaneau's execution and said Sarkozy had "opened the doors of
hell."
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or North Africa, is an
affiliate of the original al-Qaida group. It grew out of an
Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, formally merging with
al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading its tentacles through the Sahel
region.
Amid increasing concerns about terrorism and trafficking in
northwest Africa, four countries -- Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and
Niger -- opened a joint military headquarters deep in the desert in
April. The goal has been to establish a collective response to
threats from traffickers and the al-Qaida offshoot.
The United States is also trying to help and has provided
U.S.-run training sessions for African troops in the area.
"I condemn this barbaric act, this odious act against an
innocent victim who spent his time helping the local populations,"
Sarkozy told reporters. He said Germaneau's captors had refused to
procure needed medication for the hostage, who had had a heart
condition.
The fate of Germaneau, who had formerly worked in the oil
industry, illustrates the need to keep fighting terrorism, Sarkozy
said.
The leader of al-Qaida's North African branch said in a message
broadcast Sunday that the Frenchman was killed in retaliation for
the deaths of six al-Qaida members in a military operation in the
Sahara last week.
"As a quick response to the despicable French act, we confirm
that we have killed hostage Germaneau in revenge for our six
brothers who were killed in the treacherous operation," the
group's leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel, said in the message broadcast
on Al-Jazeera television.
"Sarkozy has (not only) failed to free his compatriot in this
failed operation, but he opened the doors of hell for himself and
his people," he added.
Sarkozy revealed that France participated in the operation led
by Mauritania against a base camp of the al-Qaida group in a
last-ditch effort to free Germaneau.
"Convinced he was condemned to a certain death, we had the duty
to make this effort to pull him free from his captors," Sarkozy
said in his public address. "Unfortunately, Michel Germaneau
wasn't there" and he was killed "in cold blood," Sarkozy said,
without specifying when or where the killing occurred.
Defense Minister Herve Morin later suggested on France-Inter
radio the operation took place in Mali after Mauritania learned
that some 150 al-Qaida combatants were regrouping there ahead of an
attack.
Germaneau was initially reported abducted April 22 in Niger, and
officials later said he was taken to Mali. Sarkozy put the
abduction date at April 20. European newspapers had reported the
military raid took place last Thursday. The precise circumstances
of the raid remain unclear.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb had given France until Monday to
help secure the release of its jailed members in the region,
warning that Germaneau would be executed if Paris failed to comply.
However, Sarkozy said there had been no proof since May that
Germaneau was alive and there had not been "the least beginning of
dialogue with French or local authorities."
Sarkozy compared Germaneau's fate to that of British hostage
Edwin Dyer, who was beheaded May 31. The two were among hostages of
a half-dozen nationalities captured by al-Qaida's North African
network. The group was formed from the remains of the Salafist
Group for Call and Combat, one of several insurgency movements that
waged a battle against the Algerian state since the early 1990s.
The al-Qaida offshoot is currently holding two Spanish aid
workers, Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta, who were taken hostage
in Mauritania in November.
Before retiring, Germaneau worked in the Algerian oil sector. He
later ran an aid group that worked in African countries called
Enmilal. The association couldn't be immediately reached for
comment on his death.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was leaving later
Monday for three-nation visit to Mali, Mauritania and Niger to
discuss security measures for French citizens in those regions.
Sarkozy appealed to French citizens to "absolutely renounce"
travel in the region, and the Foreign Ministry issued a travel
warning for Mauritania, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Niger and Mali.