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FRENCHE RAID ON MAGHREB MILITANTS FAILED
France said it had provided "technical and logistical" support in the raid, in which several suspected militants were reportedly killed. The group targeted has refused to negotiate over a French hostage kidnapped in the region in 04/2010, the French defence ministry said. It said the raid was aimed, allegedly, at stopping an attack against Mauritania.
 Spanish reports said a raid to free the hostage, Michel Germaneau, 78, had failed. MAGHREB al-Qaeda had threatened to kill Michel Germaneau.
It was not immediately clear where the raid had taken place, though Reuters news agency cited Malian officials saying that military aircraft had been coming and going and shots had been fired in the north of Mali (see also - Mali 07.08.09).
Western nations have been training security forces in West and North Africa to help them tackle MAGHREB al-Qaeda but they do not normally admit being involved in operations.
MAGHREB al-Qaeda has been blamed for a number of kidnappings (see - MAQ 12.28.09 and MAQ 4 Prisoners) and attacks in the Sahel region around the Sahara desert, in countries including Mauritania, Mali and Niger. Last year it claimed responsibility for executing a British hostage, Edwin Dyer.
"The terrorist group targeted by the Mauritanian army is the one that executed a British hostage a year ago and has refused to give a proof of life or engage in negotiations to release our compatriot Michel Germaneau," a French defence ministry statement said.
An unnamed Mauritanian official told AFP news agency that several suspected militants had been killed in the attack, though he did not confirm reports in Spanish newspapers ABC and El Pais that the raid was aimed at liberating Michel Germaneau.
Mr Germaneau was abducted in a remote part of northern Niger along with his Algerian driver, who was later freed (see also - MAGHREB Alliance).
The leader of MAGHREB al-Qaeda Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud, whose real name is Abdelmalek Droudkel, said, on Monday 07/26/2010, in a statement broadcast by the Arabic TV network al-Jazeera that Michel Germaneau had been killed in revenge for a raid in which six militants died .French authorities later confirmed his death.
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24/07/2010 12:30:06
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