AGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian police and soldiers today have been searching a mountainous region for a kidnapped Frenchman. Residents say roads have been filled with military trucks, as helicopters fly overhead and security forces fan out through the rugged region — which has long been a hotbed for extremist groups.
In a video posted yesterday, an extremist group said it would kill Herve Gourdel in 24 hours unless France ended its participation in airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande told reporters at the U.N. today that he has “plenty of confidence” in Algerian security forces. And he said his country “will give in to no blackmail, no pressure, no ultimatum.”
An Algeria security official says the group that is holding the Frenchman had split away from al-Qaida’s North Africa branch just two weeks ago and declared allegiance to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq — a rival of al-Qaida. The breakaway group is led by a veteran al-Qaida commander.
Gourdel is a mountaineering guide who was taken Sunday night while driving through the Djura Djura mountains in a region that is one of the last active areas of operation for al-Qaida in Algeria. Four Algerian companions who were captured with him were later released.
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APPHOTO NYAJ101: In this still image from video published on the Internet on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, by a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, a captive Frenchman appeals to French President Francois Hollande to help free him. The Frenchman, whom the ministry described as a 55-year-old mountain guide, said he was taken hostage by the group on Sunday and reiterated its demands that the French military end its airstrikes in Iraq. The group said it was answering a call by Islamic State group spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani to attack Americans and Europeans. (AP Photo) (22 Sep 2014)
< APPHOTO PAR101: FILE – In this May 8, 2012 file photo shows the snow capped peaks of the Djura Djura mountains in the rugged Berber-speaking Kabylie region of Algeria , 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Algiers. A splinter group from al-Qaida’s North African branch kidnapped a French citizen and said Monday Sept.22, 2014 that it would kill him unless France halts it airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq. In a video that appeared on social media, a masked member of a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, addressed the threat to French President Francois Hollande and said the hostage would be killed unless the airstrikes were halted within 24 hours. (AP Photo/Paul Schemm, File) (23 Sep 2014) < Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
