Al-Qaeda group: France endangers hostages by intervening in Mali

An al-Qaeda-affiliated group is accusing France of endangering the lives of a half-dozen French hostages by helping to organize a military intervention in Mali instead of negotiating for the hostages' release, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. The accusation, in an online video, came from Abdel Hamid Abu Zeid, a battle-hardened Algerian who leads the most active of three squads of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the terrorist group's affiliate in the Sahel region of northern Africa. Experts said the video was recorded Tuesday and put online by a Mauritanian Internet site, Sahara Media, that is a frequent conduit for AQIM communications. Abu Zeid's claim appeared designed to stir French public opinion against President Francois Hollande's government, which insists it is doing all it can to free the hostages but says it must act in secret, through clandestine intermediaries, if it is to be effective.