Taroudant, Morocco - An Algerian group linked to the Islamic state (IS), also knows as ISIS claimed it has kidnapped a French citizen on Sunday in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, and threatened to execute him unless Paris halts its air attacks in Iraq against IS.
In a video released Monday by the group, Hervé Gourdel, 55-year-old from Nice, said he has been abducted by a group called Soldiers of the Caliphate ("Jund al-Khilafa"), which pledges allegiance to the jihadist organization of the Islamic state.
The French hostage, who arrived in Algeria on September 20 and was reportedly abducted a day later by “Jund al-Khilafa”, is pleading the French president “to do all that he could to free him.”
"I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa. This group is asking me to ask you [Hollande] to not intervene in Iraq. I ask you to do everything to get me out of this bad situation and I thank you," Gourdel, who was filmed sitting between two armed and masked men, said.
Laurent Fabius, France's foreign minister, was quoted by Aljazeera as saying, "We will do everything we can to liberate hostages," "But a terrorist group cannot change France's position," the minister added.
The Kidnappers threaten to execute him in twenty-four hours if France led new raids in Iraq. The French government has not confirmed the authenticity of the video yet, but it was confirmed by a specialized website, according to Lemonde.fr
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