Al-Qaida group 'holding Briton and Italian' in Nigeria

A video showing a kidnapped Briton and an Italian being held by armed men apparently from an al-Qaida group, is being investigated by the UK Foreign Office.

The pair were kidnapped from northern Nigeria nearly three months ago.

The video, distributed by the French news agency AFP, shows the two men kneeling in front of three masked men carrying machine guns. The men ask authorities to comply with their kidnappers’ demands.

The video’s authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.

AFP said it received it at its bureau in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

The UK Foreign Office released a statement today saying it was investigating the video.

Police said the two men were kidnapped on May 12 from an apartment in Kebbi state, which borders Niger. Such kidnappings are rare in northern Nigeria.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb was involved in a January kidnapping involving foreigners in Niger.

AFP blurred the faces of the two hostages, though one could be seen wearing a Manchester United football shirt.

The Foreign Office said it remained in close contact with Nigerian and Italian authorities.

“We are working to secure the hostages’ safe and swift release,” the statement read. “We ask those holding the two men to show compassion and release them, enabling them to rejoin their families.”

The men in the video identify their kidnappers as belonging to al-Qaida, but offered no other details.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a North African affiliate of the terror group, has its roots in an extremist group in Algeria that brokered an alliance with al Qaida in 2006. It has since kidnapped more than a dozen Europeans including tourists and aid workers. The group is believed to be using the ransom payments to bankroll operations and with each kidnapping its tactics have become more bold.

The group operates in West Africa and the northern deserts and capital of Niger. However, it would be the first time the group involved itself in an operation in northern Nigeria.

Western diplomats have feared the group would spread into Nigeria’s Muslim north, where dissatisfied masses live in poverty.