(CNN) -- France's defense minister said Monday that French soldiers who attempted to rescue two of their abducted countrymen in the capital of Niger were not to blame for the deaths of the men.
No "blunder" occurred on their part in Friday's operation, Alain Juppe told reporters.
"During this rescue operation, the two hostages were killed, probably executed by their kidnappers," said a statement on the ministry's web site. "Two French soldiers were injured and many terrorists were killed."
The bodies of the two 25-year-old men, whom he identified only as "Antoine" and "Vincent," were being taken to Paris, where they would undergo autopsy and then be handed over to their relatives, he said, according to Francois Menage, a reporter for CNN affiliate BFM.
The French newspaper Le Figaro identified the men as Antoine De Leocour and Vincent Delory.
Though security needs to be improved for French citizens living in Niger, the defense minister said, he urged them not to leave the country.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered gratitude Monday for President Barack Obama's expression of solidarity with the French people over the deaths of the two Frenchmen.
"The United States and France are determined to stand firm as allies on this issue of terrorism," Sarkozy told reporters in a joint news conference with his U.S. counterpart at the White House. "When values as fundamental as those we cherish are being challenged, democracy cannot afford to give in."
His remarks came after Obama offered his condolences to Sarkozy and his countrymen over the incident. "It points to the challenges that we jointly share and this is just one more area in which cooperation between the United States and France is so critical," he said.
Masked gunmen burst Friday night into a restaurant owned by a French citizen in the capital city of Niamey and abducted the two Frenchmen. A witness said the bar was crowded and many people did not realize what was going on at first.
"Those behind the kidnapping were probably part of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said.
That organization has not claimed responsibility. But it did acknowledge it was responsible for the abduction of five French citizens who have been missing since September.
Niger's Voice of Sahel radio reported clashes between Niger army forces and the kidnappers early Saturday near the town of Ouallam, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Niamey, near the border with Mali.
The leader of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud, has warned France that if it does not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, more French nationals would be endangered.
"If you want safety for your citizens who are held captive by us, then you must move quickly to take your soldiers out of Afghanistan according to a specific timetable that you announce officially," Abdul-Wadud said.
The French citizens kidnapped in September were linked to the French nuclear energy company Areva, which has been mining uranium for decades in Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world.
France has already said it may begin to withdraw some of its 4,000 troops from Afghanistan this year.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|