Paris rejects talks with kidnappers of French family
Iran Press TV
Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:18PM GMT
France's defense minister says Paris will not negotiate with the kidnappers of a French family of seven, recently abducted from northern Cameroon.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a radio interview on Tuesday that "We do not negotiate on these terms, with these groups.”
The comments came a day after a video was posted on YouTube showing the hostages with their kidnappers who claimed to be from the Nigerian Boko Haram militant group. They asked for the release of prisoners.
Meanwhile, Le Drian added that Paris would use “all possible means to ensure the release of hostages, be they these or others."
On February 19, a source close to the French Embassy said that unidentified men had kidnapped seven French tourists in northern Cameroon near the border with Nigeria.
“Seven French tourists were captured today by men, apparently on motorbikes, in the Cameroonian locality of Dadanga on the frontier with Nigeria,” the source said.
The unnamed source noted that the tourists were returning from the Waza natural park, which is located in the Far North Region.
Following the incident, France urged its citizens “to leave the area as quickly as possible.”
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.
Human rights groups report that violent actions by the group since mid-2009 have claimed more than 1,000 lives, including over 300 in 2012.
MR/PKH
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