4 French Men Kidnapped In Niger In 2010 Released

Four French hostages kidnapped by al Qaeda's north African arm three years ago in Niger have been released, President Francois Hollande said.

Pierre Legrand, Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dol and Marc Feret were kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in September 2010 while working for French nuclear group Areva and a subsidiary of construction group Vinci in Arlit in Niger.

The conditions of the release on Tueday were not immediately clear, but, speaking to French television, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius denied the government had paid a ransom.

"We don't play that game,'' he said

The men were expected to travel back to France early on Wednesday.

"(It has been) three years of suffering for these citizens who have been held by jailers without scruples and three years of suffering for the families who have lived hell and today are relieved," Hollande told a news conference during a visit to Slovakia.

"The president told us they are in good health," Rene Robert, grandfather of Legrand, said on i-tele. "I never doubted Pierre could hold on but we didn't know how long things would last, and it is true that at some point he could have worn out."

There was no news about the fate of three Swedish, Dutch and South African men who were also held by AQIM.

Bearded and tired 

The men's release gave Hollande a boost just a day after a poll showed he had become the most unpopular French president on record, with the Socialist leader hit by anger over tax hikes, unemployment and rows over the government's immigration policy.

Hollande thanked the president of Niger, whom he said obtained the release of the four French hostages. France's
foreign and defence ministers welcomed them at Niamey airport, where Niger authorities had brought them.

A Reuters news agency reporter at the airport said the hostages were bearded, looked tired and were dressed in traditional robes worn by desert people. None of the hostages spoke.  

Hollande has said Paris has ended a policy of paying ransoms for hostages, but suspicion that it still does despite official denials has been a source of tension with the United States.