Al-Qaida militants have executed “in cold blood” a 78-year-old French aid worker in the Sahel region, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Michel Germaneau, who was working on humanitarian projects in Africa’s Sahel region, was abducted in April. Sarkozy said Germaneau’s abductors refused to procure medication for the hostage, who had a heart condition.
“I condemn this barbaric act, this odious act against an innocent victim who spent his time helping the local populations,” Sarkozy said July 26.
The French president did not give details on when or where the killing occurred.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or North Africa, have claimed responsibility for the killing, saying it was in retaliation for a failed rescue attempt that killed six members of the militant group, The Washington Post reports.
“As a quick response to the despicable French act, we confirm that we have killed hostage Germaneau in revenge for our six brothers who were killed in the treacherous operation,” the group’s leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel, said in a message aired July 25 on Al-Jazeera television. “Sarkozy has (not only) failed to free his compatriot in this failed operation, but he opened the doors of hell for himself and his people.”
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and the European Union have condemned the killing.
“The Secretary-General considers this latest incident a strong reminder of the urgent need to defeat terrorism throughout the world and in the Sahel region in particular,” U.N. spokesperson Martin Nesirky said.
The EU also called for mobilizing international and regional efforts “to step up the fight against terrorism and reinforce security in the Sahel-Saharan strip.”
Meanwhile, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin has raised concern over the reported escape of the convicted killer of Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan.
Martin urged the Iraqi government for clarification on the location of Lutfi Jassar, who has allegedly escaped from his prison cell. Jassar was sentenced to life imprisonment a year ago for Hassan’s assassination but was facing a retrial in Baghdad, Independent.ie reports.
