













Typically hostages are fiercely guarded by the platoon leader that kidnapped them, making it improbable that a different commander would announce their execution. For these reasons, Rouiller says that he is not convinced that Verdon was executed, though he also cautions that the ongoing war in Mali could have upset the normal structure of the organization, making it acceptable for a different spokesman or a different commander to announce the news.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an insurgency in Algeria. The group joined the al-Qaida terror network in 2006. Hunted by the Algerian security services, the leaders of AQIM crossed the desert border into Mali and began operating out of the country's lawless, northern desert. Last March following a coup in Mali's capital, the al-Qaida group pushed into the cities, taking over the three provincial capitals of the north, including the fabled city of Timbuktu. The group has financed itself by kidnapping Europeans.

For years, French citizens have been lucrative kidnapping targets because of the government's unofficial policy of paying ransoms through middlemen, analysts and U.S. officials have said. The newspaper Le Monde this week reported that President Francois Hollande is putting an end to the payments, citing advisers to the French leader.

Rouiller said that a final explanation for the announcement of Verdon's execution is in response to Hollande's ultimatum. "The hypothesis would be that Verdon was actually already dead. We know that his health was really bad, from pre-existing conditions. This claim could be a response to Hollande's announcement that they will not pay ransoms anymore. They want to put pressure on France and say, 'OK, here is what will happen if you don't pay ransoms.'"


Charlton contributed to this report from Paris. Associated Press writer Ahmed Mohamed in Nouackhott, Mauritania, and Jamey Keaten in Paris also contributed to this report.

