Gray areas remain after the execution of French hostages

How was held the French military intervention to free two French hostages kidnapped in Niger, which has resulted in the death of Anthony and Vincent Léocour Delory? "From our perspective, nothing is blurred in the sequence of events," said Monday the French Defence Minister Juppe. But the contradictory statements of French and Nigerian governments maintain doubt.

The Nigerian Ministry of Interior and said Wednesday the only hold "no terrorists" suspected member of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) involved in Niamey the kidnapping and death of two French hostages. These statements contradict those of the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who had confirmed to the National Assembly on Tuesday that two suspected members of AQIM involved in the kidnapping of two French nationals had been captured alive and were interviewed in Niamey.

Other gray areas remain, particularly on the conditions of the death of one of two French hostages. For one, Alain Juppe said he was "killed by a bullet in the head", but for the other? The French authorities have "every reason to believe" that the two men "were executed by the kidnappers," said the minister.

François Fillon has ensured his side and Vincent Anthony De Léocour Delory have "been removed coldly." According to a medical source who saw the body in Niamey, the hostages' hands were tied behind his back, and they had black marks on the body. " A source close to the Nigerian presidency had earlier assured that "the bodies were charred," while French police sources claimed that only "the body of one of the two French hostages was completely charred." An autopsy must be performed at the forensic institute in Paris on Wednesday to see if one of the hostages has not been the victim of a fire helicopter.

Indeed, according to sources in Mali, French helicopter gunships fired on the convoy of vehicles of the kidnappers in northern Mali, about fifteen kilometers from the Malian town Tabankor (35 km south of Menaka), where charred wreckage had been found. Among the wreckage, "a big 4 × 4 vehicle registered in Benin," according to an administrative authority in northern Mali.

In Niamey, witnesses had said the French had been taken aboard such a vehicle. Another question remains: the conditions of the death of Nigerian policemen (two or three, the figures vary there too). After the assault, had been found dead, with the hostages, "terrorists and persons wearing police uniform Niger.

"A survey to establish what was the reason for their presence in the vehicles we have arrested," stated Mr. Juppe denying any "blunder" French.

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