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France's Sarkozy says will punish Qaeda killers
[Al Arabiya Latest] President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Monday to punish al Qaeda's north African wing after confirming the death of a 78-year-old French hostage kidnapped in Niger.Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said on Sunday it had killed Michel Germaneau in response to a raid by France and Mauritania against the group last week. French commandos, acting with Mauritanian troops, had tried to free Germaneau, a retired engineer kidnapped on April 20, but had not found him when they raided a desert al-Qaeda camp in Mali, Sarkozy said. "Convinced that he was condemned to a certain death, it was our duty to try to save him from his captors. Unfortunately Michel Germaneau was not there," Sarkozy said in a live televised statement. "Far from weakening our determination, his death must reinforce it," the president said. He urged French citizens to avoid travel to the Sahel region and vowed: "This crime will not go unpunished." Sarkozy said France had received no sign since May that Germaneau was alive, and had intervened after AQIM threatened on July 11 to kill him within two weeks unless Paris arranged a prisoner exchange. Spain, which also has two hostages held by another al-Qaeda faction in the region, condemned the killing of Germaneau and said it would continue with efforts to free its citizens. "The Spanish government wants to transmit to the French government its full solidarity and support in the face of this brutal crime," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in a statement. Spread Fear Security analysts said the group would use the raid as an excuse to target French interests in the region, though probably not on French soil. "Looking at the way al-Qaeda made the threat, I think they will try and take further revenge against French interests, in other words do something in addition to having killed the French hostage," said Camille Tawil, an author and expert on north African militant groups. "They don't have the capability to do something in France. If they had it, they would not have hesitated to act. They would be more likely to act against French interests in Africa," he said. Domestically, the failed raid seemed unlikely to dent Sarkozy's standing, although the Socialist mayor of Germaneau's hometown, Olivier Thomas, questioned the use of force, saying the French tradition was to negotiate hostages' freedom. Paris negotiated the release of another hostage, Pierre Camatte, who was released in February after Mali agreed to free four Islamist prisoners it was holding. Defence Minister Herve Morin, justified the government's decision to participate in the raid saying AQIM had no intention to negotiate. "We are facing a group that is completely determined in pursuing a holy war and had refused all direct or indirect means to initiate any dialogue with us," Morin told public radio France Inter. Islamists in the Sahara have so far not staged any large-scale attacks, and experts say they have concentrated largely on collecting revenues from ransom payments and the smuggling of goods, including cocaine. But, fearing these groups could become too powerful in vast desert zones governments have little sway over, Western nations led by France and the United States have stepped up involvement in the region and are seeking to forge better coordination. Noman Benotman, a Libyan analyst based in Britain who is a former associate of Osama bin Laden, said AQIM will do its utmost to inflict further punishment on France. "They will want to send a message of being tough, of spreading fear," Banotman said. The same AQIM wing killed British captive Edwin Dyer last year after Britain refused to give in to its demands. Sarkozy said he was sending Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to Mali, Niger and Mauritania from Monday evening to discuss increased security measures for French nationals in the region. Posted by: Fred 2010-07-27 |
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