DUBAI/PARIS, (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s wing in North  Africa said it had killed a French hostage in response to a raid  last week by French troops against a base in the Sahara desert,  according to a recording aired yesterday by Al Jazeera.

Mauritanian troops backed by French special forces launched  the cross-border raid against a base of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb  (AQIM) in Mali on Thursday. Mauritanian officials have tried to  play down France’s role in the raid.

“As a prompt and just response to France’s despicable act,  we killed the French hostage, named Michel Germaneau, today,  Saturday, July 24, 2010 in revenge for the killing of our six  brothers,” a leader of the group said in an audio recording  aired by the Arabic-language satellite broadcaster.

“(French President Nicolas) Sarkozy was unable to free his  compatriot through this failed operation but he definitely  opened one of the gates of hell on himself, his people and his  nation,” said the man, identified as AQIM leader Abu Musab  Abdul-Wadud. His voice resembled that of other recordings  attributed to Abdul-Wadud.

Sarkozy’s office in Paris said it had no confirmation of the  hostage’s death. Sarkozy would hold a meeting today with top  officials including his prime minister and interior, foreign and  defence ministers, in response to the Al Jazeera report.

Retired engineer Germaneau, 78, was kidnapped in April and  believed to be in the hands of Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, leader of  the more hardline of two AQIM factions operating in the Sahara.

A French Defence Ministry source said the operation against  AQIM was launched after the group failed to provide proof  Germaneau was alive or negotiate over him. AQIM had set France a deadline of next week to agree to a  prisoner swap or it would kill him.