January 18, 1900 - 1:00 AM
PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it saw no new menace against it in a Taliban video threatening attacks in Paris if French troops did not withdraw from Afghanistan.
The recorded message aired by Al Arabiya television on Monday also claimed responsibility for an ambush in which 10 French troops were killed in August, the biggest single combat loss of foreign troops in Afghanistan since 2001.
"There is no particular additional threat today," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux told a news conference when asked about the recording, adding the tape seemed to have been recorded shortly after the ambush.
"Looking at these remarks, they repeat themes that are not new," Desagneaux said, adding: "It is a renewed communications exercise but one which is not new."
Measures were in place to guarantee the security of French citizens but no additional steps had been taken after the recording was aired, he said.
"Of course, in the context of permanent vigilance, we are concerned about the security of our troops, our forces engaged in Afghanistan, as we are about the security of all French people," Desagneaux told reporters.
"Additional security measures were not taken after this broadcast," he added.
France has about 2,600 troops in Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Share this article:
LATEST NEWS
- 21.11.2009 - 07:08 China mine explosion kills 31, traps 78
- 21.11.2009 - 05:26 Honduras de facto leader says will step aside
- 20.11.2009 - 23:28 Albania opposition protests to demand vote recount
- 20.11.2009 - 22:48 U.S. to drop charges against one Blackwater guard
- 20.11.2009 - 22:40 Afghan government would fall if NATO withdraws - Miliband
- 20.11.2009 - 14:37 More than 20 killed in separate Afghan blasts
- 20.11.2009 - 10:01 EU names Belgian PM Van Rompuy as first president
