France will not let Al-Qaeda take hold in Africa - Sarkozy

France will not let Al-Qaeda acquire a foothold in Africa, President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday, vowing that Paris would help fight the extremist group.

"We will mobilise to support Africa faced with the growing threat from Al-Qaeda, whether in the Sahel or in Somalia," Sarkozy said in a foreign policy speech to French ambassadors in Paris.

"What happened these past months in Mali, in Niger and Mauritania is a very clear signal," he said, referring to a string of incidents targeting Western interests in north and west Africa.

"France will not let Al-Qaeda set up a sanctuary on our doorstep in Africa. That message, too, must be clearly heard."

The Islamist network's north African wing, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), has recently extended its operations from Algeria into neighbouring states.

The Al-Qaeda branch grew out of Algeria's radical Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat and has repeatedly threatened French targets.

The group claimed responsibility for an August 8 suicide bombing near the French embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, in which two French gendarmes were lightly wounded.

It also claimed the kidnapping of six Westerners in Niger and Mali late last year.

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