Militant website calls for assassination of Prez, bombing of France

Abu Dhabi: A militant Islamist website has created a series of posters calling for attacks on France and for the assassination of President Francois Hollande in reprisal for the country’s policies in Mali and the Central African Republic, SITE monitoring service said late on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_1350619” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image of al Qaeda. AP image[/caption] In addition to assisting Mali in its war against Islamists, France sent troops four months ago to the majority Christian Central African Republic, where predominantly Muslim “Seleka” rebels seized power a year ago. The Seleka have since been pushed back by Christian “anti-balaka” (anti-machete) militia. The al Minbar Jihadi Media Network, a well-known Islamist website, created six posters as part of a campaign it dubbed, “We will not be silent, O France,” SITE said. The forum’s “Media soldiers for the support of Islam” designed the posters, which can be downloaded and printed by visitors to the site. France’s troops in the Central African Republic, around 2,000 soldiers, are supporting a 6,000-strong African Union peacekeeping mission. “To our lone-wolves in France, assassinate the president of disbelief and criminality, terrify his cursed government, and bomb them and scare them as a support to the vulnerable in the Central African Republic,” one of the posters said. Hollande had said his troops would work to stop the Central African Republic splitting in two and to disarm rival fighters. Al Minbar Jihadi Media Network publishes news for various al Qaeda affiliates and other jihadists and has had an online magazine since July last year. A French-led offensive in January 2013 drove out Islamist militants who had seized control of northern Mali. Small groups of fighters loyal to Islamist groups including the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa and al Qaeda in the Maghreb still operate in the desert region, carrying out periodic attacks. Kidnappings and killing of French nationals has since then taken place as a form of reprisal. Two French journalists were abducted and killed in Northern Mali in November, with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claiming responsibility. Reuters