French FM: No confirmation of death of French hostage held by AQIM

France has no confirmation of the reported death of Philippe Verdon who was held hostage by an Islamist group of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on radio Europe1 on Monday.The foreign minister expressed great concerns over the fate of the French hostage who was kidnapped in 2011 in Mali and later was announced to have been executed by AQIM, but he said French authorities did not have the "confirmation" of his death.Last Tuesday evening, a self-claimed AQIM spokesman informed Mauritanian news agency ANI that Verdon had been executed on March 10 in response to France's military intervention in Mali.On Sunday, AQIM again threatened to kill French hostages it held, and called on their families to "put pressure" on the French government to cease its military intervention in Mali against rebels.Fabius refused to make any further comments on five other hostages held by AQIM, in fear that "any indication we give can be used by terrorists. I am very determined but very discreet, " he said.