France encouraged by Niger hostage pictures
France says photos of French hostages kidnapped in Niger aired by Al-Jazeera are "an encouraging sign". The French ministry says they have authenticated the photos show all seven hostages, five French citizens, one Malagasy and a Togolese.
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“State services are fully mobilised and doing all they can to free them. We are in constant liaison with their families,” says the French ministry.
The Qatari channel says it also has an audio tape of four of the French hostages being interrogated about the marital status and the circumstances of the abduction. The shots show the hostages seated in the sand with armed men in the background.
The kidnapped Areva workers were abducted two weeks ago the northern mining town of Arlit in Niger.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the north African wing of Osama Bin Laden's organisation, has claimed responsibility for taking the hostages, and France has announced that it is ready to negotiate.
The photos surfaced just as the head of French nuclear firm Areva, Anne Lauvergeon, was set to arrive in Niger. Lauvergeon is to meet Niger President Salou Djibo on Thursday and on Friday.
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