13 Oct 2012
The
Mali Islamic militant group has threatened to kill French expatriates
in West Africa and elsewhere if the French president who is pushing for a
military intervention in Northern Mali does not halt his plans, the Associated Press reported.
The threat comes just days after United Nations Security Council
asked African nations and the UN to suggest a detailed plan within 45
days for the military intervention in northern Mali following reports of
human rights violations by the Al-Qaeda linked militants.
In a public statement, a spokesman for the terrorist group, naturally, made threats to commit more human rights abuses. “If [French President Francois Hollande continues to throw oil on the fire, we will send him the pictures of dead French hostages in the coming days," Oumar Ould Hamaha, a spokesman for Islamist group MUJWA, told Reuters.
The group also threatened to execute six French citizens currently being held as hostages at an undisclosed location in Mali. "He will not be able to count the bodies of French expatriates across West Africa and elsewhere," Hamaha added, according to Reuters.
The French were taken in as hostages in 2010 and 2011.
In response to the threats, the French president Francois Hollande has said on Saturday it would not alter its stance on Mali.
“We have always said that we would always do everything to secure the release of our hostages,” he told a news conference in Kinshasa. “Should we tone down our message on the integrity of Mali, on the fight against terrorism, because of these threats? I think it’s quite the opposite.”
“It’s by showing our determination to stand by our position of fighting terrorism that we can convince the abductors that it is time to free our hostages,” he added.
Hostages (clockwise from top right) Pierre Legrand, Marc Ferret, Thierry Dole, Daniel Larribe
AFP /Sahara Medias
AFP /Sahara Medias
In a public statement, a spokesman for the terrorist group, naturally, made threats to commit more human rights abuses. “If [French President Francois Hollande continues to throw oil on the fire, we will send him the pictures of dead French hostages in the coming days," Oumar Ould Hamaha, a spokesman for Islamist group MUJWA, told Reuters.
The group also threatened to execute six French citizens currently being held as hostages at an undisclosed location in Mali. "He will not be able to count the bodies of French expatriates across West Africa and elsewhere," Hamaha added, according to Reuters.
The French were taken in as hostages in 2010 and 2011.
In response to the threats, the French president Francois Hollande has said on Saturday it would not alter its stance on Mali.
“We have always said that we would always do everything to secure the release of our hostages,” he told a news conference in Kinshasa. “Should we tone down our message on the integrity of Mali, on the fight against terrorism, because of these threats? I think it’s quite the opposite.”
“It’s by showing our determination to stand by our position of fighting terrorism that we can convince the abductors that it is time to free our hostages,” he added.
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