A previously unheard of Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of French engineer Bernard Planche earlier this month with a video broadcast Wednesday by al-Arabiya satellite channel.
An announcer for the channel said the group that called itself the Monitoring Brigade for Iraq had demanded that the French government end what the alleged captors called “its illegitimate presence in Iraq” otherwise it would kill the hostage.
The demand came even though France does not have troops in Iraq and was one of the biggest opponents of the U.S.-led war on the country.
The black and white footage showed a middle-aged man with a moustache sitting on the ground flanked by two men standing. ONe of them pointed a gun at the captive’s head as he read a text.
“My name is Bernard, I’m 52. I’m from France, from Lyon,” the man said in English translated into Arabic by the channel.
He said that he had been doing humanitarian work in Iraq for two years as a water projects engineer.
So much for the invasion of Iraq making the terrorists hate us more.