French troops were working with
Malian security forces on Monday to hunt the
killers of two French journalists shot dead in the
west African nation’s rebel-infested northern
desert. Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and Claude Verlon, 55, were
kidnapped and killed by what French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said were “terrorist
groups” in the flashpoint northeastern town of
Kidal on Saturday. “We will do everything to find the culprits,” Malian
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed as he
met in Bamako with members of the
management of Radio France Internationale (RFI),
the station where the pair worked. “Today even, we have opened a criminal
investigation into the killings and tonight French
investigators are expected here to work hand-in-
hand with their Malian counterparts,” he added. Fabius said earlier there was “no certainty” about
who had carried out the killings as a police source
in Gao, the main city in northern Mali, said “a
dozen suspects” had been detained. But a source close to Defence Minister Jean-Yves
Le Drian who refused to be named denied that
there had been any arrests, telling AFP only that
French forces had “information” that could allow
the murderers to be tracked down. The killings have shaken France, which just days
ago was celebrating the return of four hostages
who had been held for three years after being
abducted in Mali’s neighbour Niger. Fabius told RTL radio on Monday that
“operations” were under way in Mali in a bid to
“identify a certain number of people in camps”. The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into
the murders, and investigators from France’s
counter-terrorism unit were due to fly to Mali on
Monday, a source close to the case told AFP. The deaths have highlighted the ongoing security
threat just three weeks ahead of parliamentary
elections which are supposed to mark the
completion of Mali’s transition back to democracy
following a military coup in March last year. There has been an upsurge in violence in the
former French colony, where Paris sent troops
early this year to drive out Islamists and Tuareg
rebels who had seized the country’s vast north
after the coup. African soldiers have been targeted in a number
of recent suicide and rocket attacks, and four
people were killed on Monday when their truck hit
a landmine in the northeastern desert. It was not known who was responsible for laying
the device but the United Nations said in a report
on Mali published earlier this year that
unexploded ordnance and landmines remained a
“significant threat”. A UN peacekeeping force is eventually expected to
comprise about 12,600 troops and police but
Malian soldiers have nevertheless voiced concerns
over a planned drawdown of French troops. Mali is ‘most fragile country’ Paris was due to reduce an initial deployment of
3,000 troops to 1,000 by the end of January but
government spokesman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem
signalled that the decision might be reversed in
light of the journalists’ deaths. “We are probably going to have to further
strengthen our presence to be able to counter
terrorism,” Vallaud-Belkacem said. “A situation as inextricable as the terrorist
presence in northern Mali is not going to be
resolved in a matter of a few months.” Meanwhile the European Union pledged 615
million euros ($830 million) to Bamako as part of
a five billion euro package of fresh aid for Sahel
countries, describing Mali as the “most fragile
country” in the region. Dupont and Verlon’s bodies were found riddled
with bullets just hours after they were snatched
on Saturday, lying by a pick-up truck in which
they had been abducted. Fabius said Dupont, a veteran correspondent with
decades of experience reporting in Africa, was
killed with two bullets to the chest while sound
technician Verlon “received three bullets in the
head”. “When the French forces arrived behind the pick-
up, they saw someone escaping not far away,
around 1,500 metres (a mile) away, they followed
him but did not catch him,” he added. The victims’ bodies were flown to Bamako on
Sunday night, as members of RFI’s management
arrived to organise their repatriation. The journalists had travelled to Kidal to interview
a spokesman for the Tuareg separatist group the
National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
(MNLA), and were abducted outside his home,
according to their employer. RFI quoted MNLA spokesman Ambery Ag Rhissa
as saying he heard a commotion outside and saw
the pair being bundled into a four wheel-drive
vehicle after the interview. Men in turbans and speaking the Tuareg language
Tamasheq “ordered Mr. Ag Rhissa to get back
inside and forced the journalists’ driver to lie
down”, RFI said, adding that Rhissa had heard
Verlon and Dupont resist and protest. A French military patrol found the victims’ bodies
lying near the pick-up truck about 12 kilometres
(seven miles) east of Kidal less than two hours
after the kidnapping, Fabius said.
Malian security forces on Monday to hunt the
killers of two French journalists shot dead in the
west African nation’s rebel-infested northern
desert. Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and Claude Verlon, 55, were
kidnapped and killed by what French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said were “terrorist
groups” in the flashpoint northeastern town of
Kidal on Saturday. “We will do everything to find the culprits,” Malian
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed as he
met in Bamako with members of the
management of Radio France Internationale (RFI),
the station where the pair worked. “Today even, we have opened a criminal
investigation into the killings and tonight French
investigators are expected here to work hand-in-
hand with their Malian counterparts,” he added. Fabius said earlier there was “no certainty” about
who had carried out the killings as a police source
in Gao, the main city in northern Mali, said “a
dozen suspects” had been detained. But a source close to Defence Minister Jean-Yves
Le Drian who refused to be named denied that
there had been any arrests, telling AFP only that
French forces had “information” that could allow
the murderers to be tracked down. The killings have shaken France, which just days
ago was celebrating the return of four hostages
who had been held for three years after being
abducted in Mali’s neighbour Niger. Fabius told RTL radio on Monday that
“operations” were under way in Mali in a bid to
“identify a certain number of people in camps”. The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into
the murders, and investigators from France’s
counter-terrorism unit were due to fly to Mali on
Monday, a source close to the case told AFP. The deaths have highlighted the ongoing security
threat just three weeks ahead of parliamentary
elections which are supposed to mark the
completion of Mali’s transition back to democracy
following a military coup in March last year. There has been an upsurge in violence in the
former French colony, where Paris sent troops
early this year to drive out Islamists and Tuareg
rebels who had seized the country’s vast north
after the coup. African soldiers have been targeted in a number
of recent suicide and rocket attacks, and four
people were killed on Monday when their truck hit
a landmine in the northeastern desert. It was not known who was responsible for laying
the device but the United Nations said in a report
on Mali published earlier this year that
unexploded ordnance and landmines remained a
“significant threat”. A UN peacekeeping force is eventually expected to
comprise about 12,600 troops and police but
Malian soldiers have nevertheless voiced concerns
over a planned drawdown of French troops. Mali is ‘most fragile country’ Paris was due to reduce an initial deployment of
3,000 troops to 1,000 by the end of January but
government spokesman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem
signalled that the decision might be reversed in
light of the journalists’ deaths. “We are probably going to have to further
strengthen our presence to be able to counter
terrorism,” Vallaud-Belkacem said. “A situation as inextricable as the terrorist
presence in northern Mali is not going to be
resolved in a matter of a few months.” Meanwhile the European Union pledged 615
million euros ($830 million) to Bamako as part of
a five billion euro package of fresh aid for Sahel
countries, describing Mali as the “most fragile
country” in the region. Dupont and Verlon’s bodies were found riddled
with bullets just hours after they were snatched
on Saturday, lying by a pick-up truck in which
they had been abducted. Fabius said Dupont, a veteran correspondent with
decades of experience reporting in Africa, was
killed with two bullets to the chest while sound
technician Verlon “received three bullets in the
head”. “When the French forces arrived behind the pick-
up, they saw someone escaping not far away,
around 1,500 metres (a mile) away, they followed
him but did not catch him,” he added. The victims’ bodies were flown to Bamako on
Sunday night, as members of RFI’s management
arrived to organise their repatriation. The journalists had travelled to Kidal to interview
a spokesman for the Tuareg separatist group the
National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
(MNLA), and were abducted outside his home,
according to their employer. RFI quoted MNLA spokesman Ambery Ag Rhissa
as saying he heard a commotion outside and saw
the pair being bundled into a four wheel-drive
vehicle after the interview. Men in turbans and speaking the Tuareg language
Tamasheq “ordered Mr. Ag Rhissa to get back
inside and forced the journalists’ driver to lie
down”, RFI said, adding that Rhissa had heard
Verlon and Dupont resist and protest. A French military patrol found the victims’ bodies
lying near the pick-up truck about 12 kilometres
(seven miles) east of Kidal less than two hours
after the kidnapping, Fabius said.
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