PARIS, Feb 24 France denied on Wednesday that it had paid a ransom to ensure the release of one of its citizens held by Al Qaeda, while three Spanish and two Italian hostages remain held by the militants.

Pierre Camatte was released on Tuesday in Mali after the north African country, a former French colony, agreed to release four Islamic militants.

The release of the prisoners — two Algerians, a Mauritanian and a Burkinabe — outraged Algiers and Mauritania, which had planned to try them on terror charges and recalled their ambassadors from Mali in protest.

“The position of the French authorities has not changed — we do not pay ransoms,” French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters.—AFP