Hollande condemns beheading of French tourist by IS-linked group in Algeria

French President Francois Hollande has strongly condemned the beheading of tourist Herve Gourdel by an Islamic State-linked Algerian jihadist group, calling it a "cruel and cowardly" act.

The French tourist was taken hostage by the jihadist group called Jund al-Khilafa on Sunday.

The group executed Gourdel after France refused to acknowledge its deadline to stop air strikes in IS targets in Iraq.

A video titled "Message of blood for the French government", showing Gourdel being beheaded was posted on the internet by the group.

Speaking at the UN general assembly, Hollande said that Gourdel's abduction and decapitation was a barbaric act of terrorism, which presented a problem not only for the region but also for the world, the BBC reports.

He said that it was not weakness that should be the response to terrorism but force

Three Western hostages have suffered similar fate in the hands of Islamic State militants, who are now threatening to kill Alan Henning, a taxi driver from the UK, who was abducted while on an aid mission to Syria in December.