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London (ANTARA News / Reuters) - Al Qaeda North Africa wing claimed responsibility Friday for the kidnapping of French citizens, Frenchman Michel Germaneau, who was captured in northern Niger last April, said the SITE Intelligence Group, based in the United States.

SITE, which monitors the Internet pages of Islamic groups, said al Qaeda in western Islamist (AQIM) has broadcast an audio message from Germaneau, photographs and copies of identity cards.

The guerrillas asked for a prisoner exchange and said, President Nicolas Sarkozy will be responsible for the lives of people arrested, SITE said in its report.

AQIM said Germaneau, who captured the region in the Sahara desert on 22 April, is a retired engineer who worked on the oil sector in Algeria.

Military sources in Niger say, an Algerian driver was arrested by Germaneau been freed and was found wandering through the desert in Mali at the end of April.

Governments somewhat disrupted in the desert region where the criminals, smugglers, and former rebel groups involved in the operation of Al Qaeda.

Western countries say, if there is no action, Al Qaeda guerrillas would return to the Sahara for hiding along the border of Somalia or Yemen, and use the area to launch attacks.

Mali, Niger, Algeria and Mauritania have formed a joint military base in southern Algeria, which will triple its number of troops in places they set up to reach 75 000 in two years.