The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Current affairsNews

North African branch of Al-Qaeda release hostage video

North African branch of Al-Qaeda release hostage video
17 September 2013
Aastha Gill
Avatar
Aastha Gill
17 September 2013

Al-Qaeda’s North African branch has released a video on Monday that shows seven western hostages who are alive and who were kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The video was obtained by a Mauritanian news agency, ANI, that said the footage showed the seven captives kidnapped by AQIM making statements pleading for their release.

ANI reported that all the hostages seemed in good health and included four French men, who were kidnapped from a uranium compound in northern Niger, a Dutchman, a Swede and a South African, who were abducted from Timbuktu in northern Mali in November 2011.

Commenting on the footage, Philippe Lalliot, a French foreign ministry spokesman said: “Based on the initial analysis, the video seems credible and has provided new proof of life of the four French hostages kidnapped in Arlit, northern Niger, on 16th September 2010.”

In July, the French president Francois Hollande had said: “France was doing everything to bring the hostages back but would not comment further for fear of complicating a situation which is bad enough.”

AQIM is currently thought to be holding eight Europeans hostage, including five French nationals.

The footage released yesterday show a Frenchman, Daniel Larribe, introducing himself as the head of the French group and mentioning that he was kidnapped by AQIM. He urges Hollande’s administration and his family members to work for his release.

Daniel’s wife, Francoise Larribe, was also captured but was released in 2011.

ANI said it was not clear when the video was made but the recordings by the French hostages were made in June.

It is the first video to be released that shows the captive men alive since France sent its troops to Mali in January after Al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened an assault on the capital Bamako.

Aastha Gill

Related Items

More in Current Affairs

Changes to expect during menopause

The editorial unit
Read More

Nek brings Italian pop rock to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire

The editorial unit
Read More

Why Equity Linked Savings Schemes is a preferred tax saving?

The editorial unit
Read More

How the world’s top designers would rebrand political parties

The editorial unit
Read More

Royal baby furore: Proof that the British monarchy is still popular?

Eoin O’Sullivan-Harris
Read More

World Mental Health Day 2018: Raising awareness and combating stigma

The editorial unit
Read More

Seven political personalities you should know about

The editorial unit
Read More

Donald Trump: An enemy of the arts?

The editorial unit
Read More

Trump’s fortune: Where did the money come from?

The editorial unit
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher
    Theatre
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Capote Tapes
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Dig
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Crobar: Music When the Lights Go Out
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Schemers
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Delhi gang-rape: Four sentenced to death
Vince Cable says that an early coalition break-up is “possible”‏