Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) posted a photo on the internet yesterday of seven people, including five French, whom it kidnapped in Niger two weeks ago.

There was no indication of when or where the picture was taken, but the French foreign ministry said it had been authenticated and its publication was an “encouraging sign.”

“This photograph has been authenticated. Even if we don’t know when it was taken, it’s an encouraging sign in as much as it shows all the hostages alive,” a ministry statement said.

The photo, and an audiotape, were made available by the SITE Intelligence Group, which said they were produced by AQIM’s media arm, the Al-Andalus Foundation. The picture showed all seven hostages – the French, a Togolese and a Madagascan – seated in the sand with armed men standing behind them and seated next to them.

The US-based monitoring service said the captives were questioned on the audiotape about their names, ages, marital status and if they knew who their kidnappers were. In it, it said they acknowledged the kidnappers as AQIM.

AQIM gunmen seized the five French nationals – including a married couple – in a raid on September 16 in the uranium mining town of Arlit in the deserts of northern Niger.

The hostages are being held in a mountain stronghold in northern Mali, according to a Malian report confirmed by French officials.

Daniel Larribe, a French engineer seized along with his wife Françoise, said on the tape: “We were taken from our lodgings at night... by a group from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and we are currently being held by AQIM.”