France urges release of French hostage in CAR

France on Monday urged the release of a French aid worker abducted in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), French Foreign Affairs ministry said.

"France condemns this act...and calls for those responsible to free our compatriot as soon as possible," the Quai d'Orsay said.

"The French embassy in Bangui was in constant contact with the archbishopric which was holding talks with the kidnappers," it added.

A 67-year-old French woman was working for a charity providing health and education support to Central African villages.

In 2013, France began a military operation in the African country "given the emergency" after clashes between Christian militias and largely Muslim Seleka rebels that killed hundreds of civilians and forced thousands of civilians to flee bloodshed.

Following its military operations in Afghanistan, Mali and Iraq, France has been the target of Islamist cells which urged their followers to harm the country's interests and people.

In a fresh terror threat, al-Qaeda Yemen threatened to attack Paris after a satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

The weekly lost 10 of its journalists on Jan. 7 when two Islamist gunmen stormed the paper's offices likely to avenge the publication of cartoons ridiculing the Prophet.

Three police officers and four Jewish were also killed in a series of terror attacks in Paris. Enditem