FRANCE-MALI-NIGER-HOSTAGES-LARRIBE

French Marion and Francoise Larribe, the daughter and the wife of Daniel Larribe, one of the four French hostages captured in Niger and detained since 28 months in Mali by AQIM, listen to speeches during a ceremony in support to hostages, on January 17, 2013 in Nimes, southern France. The four French hostages were in a group of seven captured in Niger's uranium-mining town of Arlit. The "Serval" French military operation backing Mali's army in battling Islamist insurgents currently has some 1,400 soldiers deployed, some of whom are engaged in ground operations. AFP PHOTO / PASCAL GUYOT (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT / AFP) (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images)