Sahel region no longer safe - France - Reuters Africa

By John Irish and Abdoulaye Massalaatchi

PARIS/NIAMEY (Reuters) - France said the entire African Sahel region was no longer safe for its citizens after two Frenchmen were killed in Niger by suspected al Qaeda militants, and Sunday told its nationals to avoid the area.

The pair were found dead, apparently killed by their kidnappers Saturday, after French special forces joined a failed attempt to rescue them in the African state.

"French nationals should be extremely vigilant and careful at all times," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website. "In view of the terrorism threat on the region, no area can be considered safe any longer."

The Sahel includes Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Northern Nigeria.

The two victims were abducted from a bar, bringing to eight the number of French nationals snatched in Niger since last April. They were the first to be seized in the capital Niamey, far from the lawless desert where Islamist militants, rebels and bandits flourish.

France's Defence Minister Alain Juppe will travel to Niamey Monday morning to meet Niger authorities and the French community, his spokesman said.

Analysts say the kidnapping bore the hallmark of an operation by groups linked to al Qaeda in the region.

"It is likely ... I think we can say that," French Armed Forces Spokesman Thierry Burkhard said Sunday when asked on television station i-Tele whether the kidnappers belonged to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).   Continued...