Algeria: Frenchman 'kidnapped by ISIL splinter group' appears in video
- 10 years ago
A French man, reportedly kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday (September 21) seems to have appeared in a video saying he was taken hostage by an Islamic State (ISIL) splinter group called the Caliphate Soldiers.
In the video the man, who gives his name as Hervé Pierre Gourdel, says he arrived in Algeria on September 20.
He appeals to the French president not to intervene in the conflict in Iraq:
“I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa, an Algerian armed group. This armed group is asking me to ask you (President François Hollande) to not intervene in Iraq. They are holding me a hostage and I ask you Mr President to do everything to get me out of this bad situation, and I thank you.”
The French foreign ministry has not yet confirmed the video’s authenticity.
Reports suggest Gourdel, a mountain guide, was kidnapped while trekking.
In the video the man, who gives his name as Hervé Pierre Gourdel, says he arrived in Algeria on September 20.
He appeals to the French president not to intervene in the conflict in Iraq:
“I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa, an Algerian armed group. This armed group is asking me to ask you (President François Hollande) to not intervene in Iraq. They are holding me a hostage and I ask you Mr President to do everything to get me out of this bad situation, and I thank you.”
The French foreign ministry has not yet confirmed the video’s authenticity.
Reports suggest Gourdel, a mountain guide, was kidnapped while trekking.