French PM: 'No negotiation'

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France would not negotiate with a group calling itself Jund al-Khilifa (Soldiers of the Caliphate), which took a hiker hostage in Algeria on Sunday. The man later appeared in a video - the authenticity of which has since been verified by the French government - urging Paris to stop participating in airstrikes over Iraqi territory controlled by the self-proclaimed "Islamic State."

Valls, on a trip to Germany that was supposed to focus on economic policy after France's change of government, told French radio that there would be "no discussion, no negotiation and we will never give in to blackmail. Even if we are of course very worried after the authentication of this video."

"We will do everything with the coordination of Algerian authorities to ensure he finds his freedom, but obviously in the face of terrorism, which plays on fear and terror, you have to be determined," Valls told Europe 1 radio. "If we pull back even by an inch, we hand them victory."

Valls also said that France's "engagement" or involvement against "IS" targets in Iraq would continue.

Hiker, mountain guide

In the video, 55-year-old hiker Herve Pierre Gourdel appears alongside two hooded fighters carrying assault rifles. He identifies himself and asks President Francois Hollande directly to assist him. His family sent a statement to the French news agency AFP.

"We learned with great pain of the kidnapping of Herve Gourdel, our father, our partner, our son, our brother and our very dear friend," the family statement said. "Herve, we can't wait to see you again and we are waiting for you."

The kidnappers in the video, who speak in Arabic, appeared to threaten to kill Gourdel unless France stops its participation in US-led airstrikes over Iraq; Paris joined the mission last Friday.

The Reuters news agency reported a major mobilization of Algerian special forces troops headed for the mountainous eastern region around the village of Ait Ouabane, where Gourdel was snatched on Sunday. Algeria, which has long fought several Islamist splinter groups on its territory in recent years, has largely confined them to remote areas, like the Kabylie region and its Djura Djura mountain range where Gourdel - a mountain guide and passionate photographer - was hiking.

The French government on Tuesday urged its nationals to exercise caution in Algeria, citing the kidnapping and French involvement in the coalition against the "Islamic State."

Valls' comments on Tuesday corresponded with those from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at the United Nations late on Monday.

"In Iraq, we are taking part in the aerial operation. In Syria, we are helping the opposition. That is our position and it has not changed," Fabius told the UN.

msh/mkg (AFP, AP, Reuters)