Areva admits security 'breakdowns' led to workers' kidnapping

A spokesman for the French nuclear giant Areva has acknowledged that internal security lapses helped kidnappers abduct seven workers last week, but said its security policy was based on requirements of the Niger government.

By Yuka ROYER (video)
News Wires (text)

AP - An Areva spokesman has acknowledged security "breakdowns'' before last week's kidnapping of seven people working for the French nuclear giant in Niger.

But Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier says security arrangements in the mining city of Arlit, where armed assailants grabbed the seven from their beds early Thursday, were in accordance with an agreement with the Niger government.

In terms of security, "Areva doesn't do what it wants,'' Saulnier told France-Info radio Monday. He added "there was certainly a chain of complicity, of breakdowns and many other things'' that led to the abductions. He did not elaborate.

He said Areva has had no news of the hostages.

There has been no claim of responsibility, but French officials suspect al-Qaida's North Africa branch was responsible.