• On Saturday 2nd November, two French journalists, Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont, were abducted and then killed outside the northern town of Kidal in Mali. The two experienced journalists worked for the French radio station, Radio France Internationale. Moments before their abduction, they had interviewed a senior Tuareg official, Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, leader to the Tuareg desert nomads, who are in dispute with the rest of the population of Mali, who are black Africans. The journalists were forced into a pick-up style car, before being driven around 12km outside the town, where they were shot many times and their bodies left by the road. The surprising thing in this awful incident is that this took place in broad daylight, not far from an army base, housing 200 French troops and 200 UN peacekeepers. The French and Mali governments have condemned the killing and vowed to bring those responsible to justice. By Monday, police had arrested at least 12 people in connection with the murders. Reports were received later in the week from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, that it carried out the killing in retaliation for crimes committed by France against Malians and the work of African and international forces against the Muslims of Azawad.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 17:47:23 +0000
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