President Francois Hollande said France was taking seriously a threat from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) after a purported leader of the Islamist group called for attacks on French interests in a video today.

"We are taking very seriously the threat from AQIM, which this reminds us of," Hollande told a news conference, when asked about the clip in which a bearded man named as Abu Obeida Yusef al-Annabi, a senior AQIM official, calls for attacks on French interests around the world.

The video's authenticity could not immediately be verified.

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