Algeria identifies some kidnappers of French hiker later beheaded by Islamic militants
Posted September 30, 2014 11:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ALGIERS, Algeria – Algeria’s justice minister has told state television that some of the members of the group that kidnapped and beheaded a French hiker have been identified.
Tayeb Louh said Tuesday evening that the initial investigation has resulted in the identification of “certain members of the terrorist group behind the crime.”
French mountain guide Herve Gourdel was kidnapped while hiking in Algeria on Sept. 21 by a splinter group from the Algerian branch of al-Qaida pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
The militants demanded France end its participation in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State. On Thursday, a video surfaced on social network sites showing Gourdel’s decapitation.
Algerian army and police have scoured the mountainous region where Gourdel was kidnapped searching for the group and his remains.
