Algerian Islamists Kidnap French National, Threaten to Kill him

A French national was kidnapped Sunday in Algeria by a militant group claiming allegiance to the Islamic State.

In a video posted online, a masked member of the group which calls itself Jund al Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, threatened to kill the hostage if France did not stop the airstrikes against the Islamic State within 24 hours.

"We, the Caliphate Soldiers in Algeria, in compliance with the order of our leader Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ... give Hollande, president of the criminal French state, 24 hours to cease its hostility against the Islamic State, otherwise the fate of his citizen will be slaughter.

"To save his life, you must officially announce the end of your hostility against the Islamic State," a speaker on the video said, reports Reuters.

The French Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the video was authentic and identified the kidnapped man as 55-year-old Herve Gourdel, from Nice, France.

Gourdel was reportedly kidnapped from the mountainous region of Kabylie near Algiers.

The video also shows, Gourdel, sitting next to two militants in black turbans and carrying assault rifles.

Gourdel says in the video that he arrived in Algeria on Sept. 20 and was kidnapped on Sept. 21.

He also requested the French President Francois Holland to do everything possible to get him released, reports Reuters.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is in NewYork for the U.N. General Assembly, said that the kidnapping of a French citizen would not prevent France from taking part in the U.S. led coalition against the Islamist State.

"We will do everything we can to liberate hostages," Fabius said. "But a terrorist group cannot change France's position," he said, reports BBC.

The kidnapping of the French National comes just hours after the Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani asked its followers to attack citizens of America, France and other countries which have joined the international collation to annihilate the jihadist group.

The Jund al Khilafah group split from the al-Qaida's North African branch recently and has vowed allegiance to the Islamic State.