Niger kidnappers probably al Qaeda, France says

The kidnappers of two Frenchmen killed in Niger on Saturday were probably members of al Qaeda's North African wing, French Armed Forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard said on Sunday. The two men were found dead, apparently killed by their kidnappers, after French special forces took part in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue them. "It is likely ... I think we can say that," Burkhard said when asked on French television station i-Tele whether the kidnappers belonged to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).