France is "at war" with Al-Qaeda and will step up military involvement in North Africa. This is what the French PM said in a radio interview after a French aid worker was killed  by a extremist group last week.
 
"The fight against terrorism continues and it is going to strengthen, particularly against Al-Qaeda," he said.
 
President Nicolas Sarkozy has also vowed to respond to the killing of Michel Germaneau, 78, who was kidnapped in April in North Africa. Yesterday officials met to discuss possible French action in the region.
 
A source in the prime minister's office said that the French military would step up "cooperation in training the armies" of the Sahel region countries but would not send extra troops itself.
 
An Al-Qaeda linked group announced on Sunday it executed Germaneau in revenge after French and Mauritanian soldiers killed six of its militants in a failed attempt to rescue him in Mali.
 
France had joined the raid by Mauritanian forces against Al-Qaeda on Malian soil "because we hoped that Michel Germaneau might be in the camp," Fillon told Europe 1 radio. "I think the hostage's life was condemned from the day we received this ultimatum on July 12," he added.

France is the former colonial ruler of most of the Sahel region and retains influence with regional leaders. Paris already has military cooperation agreements with its former West African colonies, and helps to train and coordinate local anti-terror forces.
 

Some experts said France's scope for military action in the vast desert region is limited. "I think they will make a big show of doing something, carry out an air raid to destroy a tent and a few camels," said one French anti-terrorism specialist. "They'll lay hold of two or three poor idiots who are hanging around and say, 'There, job done.'"
 
source: AFP