Foreigners kidnapped in Niger 'red zone'

PARIS - The French Foreign Ministry said overnight it was trying to secure the release of a Frenchman kidnapped last week in northern Niger. Algeria confirmed that one of its citizens was taken as well.

The kidnapping "occurred in a red zone," where French authorities firmly advise people not to travel because of security concerns, said Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

He said in an online briefing that authorities were "fully engaged, both in Paris and on the ground," in trying to secure the man's release.

Niger authorities said that al-Qaida-linked militants are suspected in the kidnapping, and that an Algerian man was also taken hostage.

In the first official comment from Algeria on the kidnapping, former prime minister and leading official Abdelaziz Belkhadem pledged that the North African country would recover its citizen without paying a ransom. He gave no further information.

Niger, an impoverished desert country, has Africa's largest proven uranium deposits, extracted by the French nuclear firm Areva.

-AP