Sahel: Mujao threaten French hostages and Francois Hollande

."If he continues to throw oil on the fire, we will send him the pictures of dead French hostages in the coming days," said Oumar Ould Hamaha, apparently referring to theFrench hostages held by the group.

"He will not be able to count the bodies of French expatriates across West Africa and elsewhere," Hamaha said by telephone.

The threats follow  President Hollande's speech urging intervention in northern Mali at the UN GeneralAssembly and a UN resolution asking for an action plan in 45 days for the ECOWAS force.President Hollande's statement that no French troops would be involved on the ground in Northern Malidoes not seem to have appeased Mujao.

In an apparent reference to  ransom paid for hostages Hamaha said that "the top country who finances the jihadis is France," he said, adding that Mujao could try to kidnap Hollande himself. "I wonder what the international community would say if we took the French president hostage."

In Kinshasa, where he participated in the summit of the Francophonie, the President Holland responded by emphasising his  "strong commitment" to hold the "line" set by France in the fight against terrorism.
 
"This is showing great determination to keep our line, which is that the fight against terrorism, we can convince the kidnappers that it is now time to release our hostages," said Mr. Holland during a press conference.
 
Nine Europeans, including six French, are retained in the Sahel by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which controls the vast northern Mali with two other armed Islamist groups: Ansar Dine (Defenders of Islam) and Mujao.