Sarkozy vows to avenge murder

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy last night vowed to avenge the murder of 78-year-old aid worker Michel Germaneau, who was kidnapped in the Sahara by al-Qa'ida's North African arm.

"I condemn this barbarous act, this odious act, which has put an end to the life of an innocent man," he said in a televised address after al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb announced the killing.

"Dear compatriots, this crime committed against Michel Germaneau will not go unpunished."

He warned French nationals to avoid all travel to the arid region running through Mauritania, Mali, Niger and southern Algeria. "We demand instantly of our countrymen that they abandon absolutely all travel in the Sahel zone," Mr Sarkozy said.

AQIM had killed 60-year-old British hostage Edwin Dyer in January 2009 and had "no respect for human life".

Mr Sarkozy said he instructed his defence and foreign ministers to take steps to prepare France's response and confirmed that French soldiers took part in a raid last week against an al-Qa'ida base in Mali.


AQIM head Abu Musab Abdul Wadud had earlier claimed that Mr Germaneau was murdered in revenge for the deadly but failed rescue raid. A senior French official said on Sunday that Paris was convinced Mr Germaneau had "been dead for several weeks".

On May 14, his abductors issued a photo of an exhausted Mr Germaneau together with a taped message, in which he appealed to Mr Sarkozy to work for his release. He suffered from a serious heart illness, had no more medication and was struggling with the heat.

Mr Germaneau's Algerian driver was later released. He said the Frenchman was being held in a desert zone in Mali.

AQIM on July 11 gave France a 15-day deadline to help secure the release of its members in the region, warning that Mr Germaneau would be killed if Paris failed to comply.

The looming deadline saw between 20 and 30 French soldiers involved in a raid on Thursday on a remote camp in the Malian desert by Mauritanian forces.

Six members of AQIM were killed in the operation.

Documents, bomb-making equipment, guns and ammunition were found during the pre-dawn assault, but soldiers found no evidence that Mr Germaneau had been held there.

AQIM is also holding two Spaniards in the region after kidnapping them seven months ago