Hollande confirms execution of French hostage in Algeria

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday confirmed the execution of Frenchman Herve Gourdel, who was held hostage by Algerian militants linked to an Islamist group in Syria and Iraq that had previously beheaded three Western captives. "Our compatriot has been murdered cruelly and in a cowardly way by a terrorist group," Hollande told reporters ahead of his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York. "Herve Gourdel was killed because he was French."

The militants earlier on Wednesday released a video that appeared to show them beheading Gourdel, who was kidnapped on Sunday.