France to invest $47 million in Sahel counterterrorism training program

France plans to invest 42 million euros ($47 million) to help countries of Africa’s Sahel region prepare to face jihadist attacks similar to those that killed dozens in Paris in 2015, an interior ministry official said on Friday. The Sahel, a politically fragile region whose remote desert spaces host a medley of jihadist groups, is…

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Al-Qaeda demands 90 million Euros for French hostages

RFI – March 21, 2011 Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) is demanding at least 90 million euros ransom for the release of four French hostages held since September, a source close to mediators indicated. The French citizens were kidnapped in September 2010 in neighbouring Niger, where France has a large stake in uranium mining,…

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Second Bomb Threat at Eiffel Tower in Two Weeks

September 28, 2010 Tourists are being allowed back inside the Eiffel Tower after it was briefly evacuated following a bomb threat. It was the second alert in two weeks at the Paris monument. The telephoned threats have come as France is on alert for possible terror attacks on crowded targets. Last week, National Police Chief…

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Al-Qaeda Claims responsibility for kidnapping Canadian diplomats in Niger

Al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch claimed yesterday it is holding hostage a senior UN peace envoy, his aide and four tourists kidnapped in the Sahara Desert. United Nations special envoy for Niger, Robert Fowler, and his aide Louis Guay, both Canadian diplomats, were kidnapped Dec. 14 in the southern Sahara country. Four tourists, including two Swiss,…

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Newly released video suggests Canadian diplomats in Niger held by al-Qaeda

Robert Fowler and Louis Guay, two Canadian diplomats kidnapped in December in the West African nation of Niger, appear to be held by al-Qaeda in a newly-released video. The existence of the video was revealed in Mali. It appears to confirm that Fowler and Guay were taken across the border to Mali after being abducted…

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