The French defense ministry said Merah had twice tried to join the French military.
The French defense ministry said Merah had twice tried to join the country's armed forces.
The French defense minister has acknowledged that the militants are a determined adversary that is well equipped.
The French Defense Minister, Jean Yves Le Drian, says that "hundreds" of militants have been killed over the last month.
The government also regained control of the main bridge leading into the city, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
France has employed about 20 fighter jets as well as refueling planes, French Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire told reporters in Paris.
As troops made gains in the region, the French Defense Ministry hailed President Dioncounda Traore's transition plan as a crucial step forward.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said the declaration of independence in northern Mali was meaningless if it was not recognized by African states.
Meanwhile, French forces protecting Bangui's main airport opened fire on three cars that were speeding toward a security checkpoint, said the French Defense Ministry.
The French Defense Ministry had no comment Monday on Chad's decision.
Allex was abducted on July 14, 2009, while on a mission in Mogadishu in support of the transitional Somali government, the French Defense Ministry said.
CNN: U.S. supported France's failed hostage rescue in Somalia
France has sent several hundred troops to join the fight and plans more raids on Monday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Radio Europe 1.
Allex was abducted on July 14, 2009, while on an official mission in Mogadishu in support of the transitional Somali government, the French defense ministry said.
The monthlong French offensive has killed "hundreds" of Islamist fighters in Mali, the French defense minister said this week, as his troops prepared to start withdrawing.
"The French troops are being vivacious at Kidal airport, which was taken a little more than a day ago, " said Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defense minister.
With the support of French forces, the Malians entered and took control of Gao, which for months had been a militant stronghold, the French defense ministry said.
French-led troops now control Timbuktu and Gao cities, along with a swath in between that was an Islamist stronghold for almost a year, the French Defense Ministry said.
The skirmish in Bulo Marer, about 75 miles northwest of the capital Mogadishu, ended with a French soldier and 17 Islamist fighters dead, according to the French Defense Ministry.
CNN: U.S. supported France's failed hostage rescue in Somalia
Nearly 4, 000 French soldiers are now deployed in Mali, according to the French Defense Ministry website, alongside about 6, 300 troops from Chad and the African-led International Support Mission to Mali.
French-led troops now control the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, along with a swath in between that was an Islamist stronghold for almost a year, the French Defense Ministry said.
French-led troops now control Timbuktu and the city of Gao, along with a swath in between that was an Islamist stronghold for almost a year, the French Defense Ministry has said.
U.S. and French defense officials believe at least one of those marriages gave Mr. Belmokhtar the social position he needed to charge safe-passage fees to cocaine cartels that move across the Sahara.
The French pilot died while taking part Friday afternoon in an aerial operation targeting a terrorist group moving on the town of Mopti, near Konna, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
French-led troops now control the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, along with the swath in between that was an Islamist stronghold for almost a year, the French Defense Ministry said this week.
The day of the arrests, French Defense Minister Herve Morin was meeting with his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on a previously unannounced visit.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the French campaign in Mali, which it launched in January after Islamist militants took over much of the country's north, succeeded in preventing terrorists from controlling that area.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday that French troops and warplanes joined the battle last week on the side of Malian government forces, and prevented the Islamists from capturing the city of Mopti.
But French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday there was no confirmation that either Belmoktar or another senior figure in AQIM, Abou Zeid, had been killed during the French campaign against Islamist hideouts in northern Mali.
Paris (CNN) -- Two French soldiers died and a third was critically injured after being shot by a black-clad man wearing a motorcycle helmet in the southwestern French city of Montauban, the French Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- French forces swooped into Somalia for a rescue mission under the cover of darkness, leading to a fierce gun battle with militants who killed the hostage, the French defense ministry said Saturday.
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