France/Somalia

France stands firm in face of hostage-taker demands

Article published on the 2009-09-17 Latest update 2009-09-18 08:09 TU

Somali president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed with Hillary Clinton, Nairobi, Kenya, 6 August 2009.
(Photo : Reuters)

France's Foreign Minister said on Thursday that Paris had rejected a demand from a rebel group in Somalia to stop supporting the government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The Shebab militant group has been holding a French security trainer for two months.

The extremist group asked the French government to accept several conditions in exchange for the release of the French security advisor-hostage.

It wants an immediate end to any political and military support for what it calls the "apostate government of Somalia" and to withdraw French personnel and advisors from the country." Shebab said French security companies must also pull out of the country and the French navy from its coastal waters.

The response from French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was swift and clear. He immediately rejected the demands and pledged suppport for the troubled government in Mogadishu. "It is a government that was founded in Djibouti with the support of a majority in Somalia," Kouchner told France Info radio. "It is completely false to say we are supporting an illegal government."

The rebel group's demands also include the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers from Somalia, especially, said the militant Islamist group, those from Burundi.

Shebab is also demanding the release of "mujahedeen prisoners" in return for the hostage. It said it will issue a list of names of countries where they are held later.

The authenticity of the document was confirmed by a top Shebab official who spoke to a French news agency (AFP) correspondent in Mogadishu.

Two French agents were captured by Islamists in Mogadishu on July 14. One of them, held by the more political Hezb al-Islam group, escaped last month and returned to France.

According to the Shebab the French agent came to Somalia "to collect intelligence for the French government" in support of foreign "forces of the crusade" in Somalia." The term is thought to refer to the African Union forces currently comprising some 5,000 troops from Ugandan and Burundi.