‘No pressure, no ultimatum’

Security forces combed Algeria's eastern mountains Tuesday, searching for a Herve Gourdel, a 55-year-old Frenchman abducted Sunday. In a video posted Monday, a group calling itself the Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) announced that it would kill Gourdel in 24 hours unless France ended its participation in airstrikes against the "Islamic State" (IS) group in Iraq.

Hollande said he had "plenty of confidence" that "everything will be done so that we can recover our compatriot." The president added: "As grave as the situation is, we will give in to no blackmail, no pressure, no ultimatum. No terrorist group can in any way influence France's position, will, and freedom."

On Friday, French forces joined the United States in carrying out airstrikes against IS, which has overrun large areas of Syria and Iraq. Jund al-Khilafah apparently split away from al Qaeda's North Africa branch just two weeks ago and declared allegiance to IS. However, that has not appeared to deter Hollande.

"We will continue to provide our support to the Iraqi authorities," said Hollande, who added that France's assistance would include weapons deliveries to groups fighting IS and continued air support for troops and Kurdish peshmerga forces, he said.

'Never give in'

The group abducted Herve Gourdel, a mountaineering guide from Nice, on Sunday while he drove through the Djura Djura mountains in the rugged Kabylie region. Jund al-Khilafah also took four Algerian companions traveling with Gourdel, but later released them. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has also said his country would not give into the group's demands.

Valls told French radio Tuesday that there would be "no discussion, no negotiation and we will never give in to blackmail - even if we are of course very worried after the authentication of this video."

Algeria has fought extremists for decades, though in recent years such groups have largely taken refuge in a few mountainous areas such as the Kabylie region, where they have concentrated on attacking soldiers and police while leaving civilians alone. Though al Qaeda's branch in the Sahara has made millions off kidnapping foreign hostages, it has rarely killed them as IS has recently done with two Americans and one Briton it held.

The US embassy in Algiers renewed a travel warning on Tuesday, urging Americans to "exercise vigilance" in their movements.

mkg/dr (AFP, AP)