Kidnapped French tourists were in Benin 'red zone': minister

Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Alpha Barry adresses media next to freed hostages, Frenchman Patrick Picque , the South Korean hostage , who has not yet been identified and French Laurent Lassimouillas The two French tourists rescued from their kidnappers in Burkina Faso this week were seized in an area of Benin that France has long advised travellers to avoid, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday.

"The zone where our two citizens were has for some time now been considered a red zone, which means it's a zone where you shouldn't go, where you're taking significant risks if you do go," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio. The foreign ministry's travel advisory website lists the areas of northern Benin near the border with Burkina Faso as"Formally Discouraged," including Pendjari National Park.The French tourists, Patrick Picque, 51, and Laurent Lassimouillas, 46, disappeared during a tour of Pendjari on May 1.

The disfigured body of their guide was found shortly after they were reported missing, along with their abandoned Toyota truck. Intelligence agencies tracked their captors across the semi-desert terrain of eastern Burkina Faso, where it appeared they would soon cross the border into Mali.

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