Bin Laden issues warning about fate of French hostages

Osama bin Laden said in his latest tape broadcast Friday that the release of two French hostages in Afghanistan would only be carried out after a pullout of their country's soldiers and warned Paris that it would pay a "high price" for its policies.

"We repeat the same message to you: The release of your prisoners in the hands of our brothers is linked to the withdrawal of your soldiers from our country," said the speaker on the audiotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera television.

Cameraman Stéphane Taponier and reporter Herve Ghesquiere, who work for France 3 TV station, were seized along with three Afghan colleagues in December 2009 in an area northeast of Kabul.

The Al-Qaeda chief, addressing the French people, said, "The refusal of your president to withdraw from Afghanistan is the result of his obedience to America and this refusal is a green light to kill your prisoners."

"But we will not do this at a timing that suits him," he said, adding the warning that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's stand would "cost him and you a high price on different fronts, inside and outside France."

Bin Laden also warned in a mocking tone that Paris "with its debt and budget deficit does not need new fronts."

AFP