Arab TV airs video of Frenchman kidnapped in Mali in 2011
AFP
DUBAI- Frenchman Serge Lazarevic, kidnapped in Mali by Al-Qaeda in 2011, appeared in a video aired on Tuesday by Dubai-based Alaan television urging French President Francois Holland to act to secure his release.
Lazarevic, wearing a black turban, sporting a long beard and flanked by armed men, said the video was being recorded on May 13.
He is the last French hostage worldwide still being held.
The 50-year-old was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on November 24, 2011, along with Philippe Verdon who was found shot dead last July.
He was accompanying Verdon on a business trip when they were seized by a armed men at a small hotel in Hombori, in the north, according to his relatives.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his government continues to work to secure the release of Lazarevic.
"We are working while trying to be most efficient but also most discrete," he told Public Senat television.
AQIM was behind the killing of two French journalists in November.
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The 50-year-old was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on November 24, 2011, along with Philippe Verdon who was found shot dead last July.
He was accompanying Verdon on a business trip when they were seized by a armed men at a small hotel in Hombori, in the north, according to his relatives.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his government continues to work to secure the release of Lazarevic.
"We are working while trying to be most efficient but also most discrete," he told Public Senat television.
AQIM was behind the killing of two French journalists in November.
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