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France rejects Al-Qaeda hostage demands
[Bangla Daily Star] France yesterday rejected demands from an Al-Qaeda cell holding five kidnapped Frenchies in northern Africa that it negotiate their freedom with Osama bin Laden and pull its troops out of Afghanistan."France cannot accept that its policy be dictated by anyone outside," new Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in a statement after Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) head Abdelmalek Droukdel made the demands in an audio recording on Thursday. The message said that France would have to negotiate personally with bin Laden to secure the release of five kidnapped Frenchies seized in Niger in September along with a Togolese and a Madagascan and believed held in Mali. The recording, broadcast by Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera, said that to ensure the hostages' safety, France must "hasten and take your soldiers out of Afghanistan according to a specific timetable that you announce officially." "France is doing all in its power for the hostages, wherever they are, to be freed safe and sound," Alliot-Marie said. Droukdel, alias Abou Moussaab Abdelouadoud, said that "any form of negotiations on this issue in the future will be done with no one other than our Sheikh Osama bin Laden... and according to his terms". Posted by: Fred 2010-11-20 |
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