French hostage taken from Kenya to Somalia dies

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

France's Foreign Ministry says a Frenchwoman who was taken hostage off a resort in northern Kenya and had been held in Somalia has died.
The ministry says in a statement that unspecified "contacts" had indicated to French officials that Marie Dedieu had died but that the date and circumstances of her death were not immediately clear.

The ministry said Wednesday that the kidnappers "probably refused to give her the medication we sent her." Kenya's government blamed the attack on Somali militants from the al-Shabab group.

Dedieu, who French officials said was in her 60s, was captured from an island resort near the northern Kenyan town of Lamu on Oct. 1.