A French man, reportedly kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday (September 21) seems to have appeared in a video saying he was taken hostage by an Islamic State (ISIL) splinter group called the Caliphate Soldiers.<br /><br />In the video the man, who gives his name as Hervé Pierre Gourdel, says he arrived in Algeria on September 20. <br /><br />He appeals to the French president not to intervene in the conflict in Iraq:<br />“I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa, an Algerian armed group. This armed group is asking me to ask you (President François Hollande) to not intervene in Iraq. They are holding me a hostage and I ask you Mr President to do everything to get me out of this bad situation, and I thank you.”<br /><br />The French foreign ministry has not yet confirmed the video’s authenticity.<br /><br />Reports suggest Gourdel, a mountain guide, was kidnapped while trekking.
