{{A suspected French jihadist has been captured by French forces in Mali, the defense ministry in Paris said on Tuesday.}}<\/p>\n
He is part of a handful of French nationals in the Sahel suspected of fighting against their own country.<\/p>\n
French authorities had been searching for Gilles Le Guen since October, when he published a YouTube video in which he warned France, the United States and the United Nations not to interfere in Mali.<\/p>\n
“I confirm the capture of a French terrorist in Mali by the French Army,” a defense ministry spokesman told Reuters.<\/p>\n
He said the man was Le Guen and that he was captured during the night of April 28.<\/p>\n
“For the moment, he is being held by French forces and should be turned over to Malian authorities,” he said.<\/p>\n
A handful of French nationals are known to have travelled to the Sahel region in northern Mali to train to fight for Islamist militants, according to diplomatic sources.<\/p>\n
France intervened in Mali in January in order to stop al Qaeda linked militants from overrunning the West African nation and to prevent it from becoming a base for attacks on the West.<\/p>\n
Media reports said Le Guen, originally from Brittany, was known as Abdel Jelil.<\/p>\n
Media had earlier reported his captured last year by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who accused him of being a spy for the West, but the group later released him.<\/p>\n
In the YouTube video, the man identified as Le Guen said he was a former officer in the merchant marine who had also worked for French humanitarian group Medicins Sans Frontieres.<\/p>\n
Last month, a French jihadist was captured by French soldiers in northern Mali and sent to France, where he was being investigated on terrorism charges.<\/p>\n
Another French national was arrested in Mali in November on suspicion of entering the country illegally in order to set up a jihadist cell.<\/p>\n
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