Al-Qaeda linked militants were most likely behind the kidnapping of two French nationals in the west African nation of Niger, who were found dead following a rescue attempt that involved French and Niger troops, said a French MP.
Defence minister Alain Juppe also defended the decision to launch the rescue mission, saying that doing nothing would have signaled to the kidnappers that in the end France doesn’t fight terrorism.
He said there was no conclusive proof that the two 25-year-old friends were killed by their captors, but "everything leads us to believe ... that they were executed, by their kidnappers".
President Nicolas Sarkozy has blamed kidnappers for the deaths of Antoine de Leocour and Vincent Delory. De Leocour was to marry a local woman in