Somalia's Islamist militia, al-Shabaab, said Wednesday it had sentenced to death a French spy held hostage since 2009 to avenge a botched French rescue operation.
Al-Shabaab "has reached a unanimous decision to execute the French intelligence officer, Denis Allex," the group said in a statement.
"Allex and all the other French hostages killed as a result of similar failed rescue operations are the victims of France's long-standing policy of negligence that shows no regard for the lives of its citizens ... It is the government of France, with its history of botched rescue of operations, which must bear full responsibility for the death of Allex," added the statement, which did not fully clarify whether Allex had already been executed.
On Saturday, two French soldiers died in a raid in Buula-Marer, about 110 kilometres south of the capital Mogadishu, seemingly organized to secure the hostage's release. Al-Shabaab said dozens of Muslim civilians died in the raid.
French officials had previously said Allex was killed during the rescue effort.
In their statement, the insurgents also singled out France's alleged "increasing persecution of Muslims around the world, its oppressive anti-Islam policies at home, French military operations in the war against Islamic Shari'ah in Afghanistan and, most recently, in Mali."