Summary Al-Qaeda's north African branch has said that it has executed a French hostage.
NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) - Paris was scrambling Wednesday to verify a claim by Al-Qaeda s north African branch that it has executed a French hostage in retaliation for France s military intervention in Mali.
A man claiming to be a spokesman for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) told Mauritania s ANI news agency late Tuesday that "spy" Philippe Verdon had been executed in Mali on March 10 "in response to France s intervention in northern Mali".
"The French President (Francois) Hollande is responsible for the lives of the other French hostages," the spokesman warned.
The French foreign ministry said it was trying to verify the report. "We can t say at the moment if it is credible," said a spokesman.
Verdon s father Jean-Pierre Verdon said he feared the worst. "I m not under any illusion, but I will wait for confirmation," he told AFP.
In all 15 French nationals, including Verdon, are being held captive in Africa, with AQIM claiming responsibility for six of the kidnappings.
Verdon was seized on the night of November 24, 2011 along with Serge Lazarevic from their hotel in Hombori, northeastern Mali, while they were on a business trip.
The families denied that the two men were mercenaries or spies.
The president of a support committee for the two men, Pascal Lupart, said the French foreign ministry had informed the families early Wednesday about the AQIM statement.
"They told the family to treat it with caution. Nothing is confirmed," Lupart told AFP.
AQIM claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, and in August last year a video showing Verdon describing his "difficult living conditions" was posted on a Mauritanian website.
Extremist groups often use the private news agency ANI to distribute their statements or claims, which often turn out to be accurate.
The French hostages families have in recent weeks expressed growing fears for their loved ones in the light of France s military offensive aimed at routing Islamists from northern Mali.
"We will do everything to free our hostages," French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told parliament on Wednesday.
France has in the past authorised the payment of ransoms to kidnappers in order to secure the release of its nationals, but officials say that has stopped since Hollande came to power last year.
