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France outraged by Algerian jihadists’ murder of French hiker, Iraq airstrikes continue

President François Hollande has called a crisis meeting of the French government on Thursday after the decapitation of French hostage Hervé Gourdel by Algerian jihadist, linked to the Islamic State (IS) armed group.

French citizen Hervé Gourdel who was murdered by Jund al-Khilafa
French citizen Hervé Gourdel who was murdered by Jund al-Khilafa Page de soutien à Hervé Gourdel
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In New York for a United Nations general assembly meeting, Hollande condemned the killing as a cruel and cowardly act but insisted that France will not “give in to blackmail” and will continue airstrikes against the IS in Iraq.

During a UN Security Council meeting to discuss foreign nationals who enrol in Middle Eastern jihadi groups, US President Barack Obama expressed his condolences to France and the council issued a statement condemning the "heinous and cowardly murder".

The French government earlier confirmed that the Algerian group Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) had beheaded Gourdel, who was kidnapped on Sunday while hiking in a national park in the Kabylia region.

The group issued a video in which Gourdel expressed his love for his family and a Jund al-Khilafah said the killing was a “message in blood for the French government”, which has ignored its ultimatum to end airstrikes against the IS within 24 hours.

Originally, from the south of France, near Nice, the 55-year-old mountain guide was known to travel abroad to explore new climbing routes.

The IS, which has appealed to sympathisers to kill citizens of countries that have joined the coalition fighting it, has beheaded three Western hostages since August and is threatening to kill British national Alan Henning.

The European Union condemned the “barbaric murder” and declared itself “more than ever united” in the fight against terrorism.

The main French Muslim organisation declared itself “horrified” by Gourdel’s execution.

But the mayor of Gourdel’s home town, Saint-Martin-Vésubie, near Nice, lashed out at France’s involvement in the Iraq conflict.

"I am angry right now,” Henri Giuge said. “First and foremost because France should not have become involved in this conflict with the IS. If you get caught up in such conflicts of there are going to reprisals. "

Prime Minister Manuel Valls won cross-party support for the airstrikes in a debate in parliament before Gourdel’s death was announced on Wednesday.

Algeria, which called the killing “odious”, has 1,500 troops searching for Gourdel’s kidnappers in the mountainous area where they are hiding out.

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