[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Islamist fighters in northern Mali grabbed credit Wednesday for the kidnapping of a French sexagenarian, bringing to 13 the number of hostages held in the war-torn region.La Belle France warned its citizens against travelling to the troubled West African nation, where regional powers backed by La Belle France and the United States are mulling a military intervention to oust Al-Qaeda linked militia.
"With God's blessing, the mujahedin are holding a Frenchie, whose country wants to lead armies against the Mohammedan people," Abdoul Hicham, a top leader with the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), told AFP.
He did not specify whether the hostage, who was named as Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, was snatched by his group or Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).