Hollande believes hostages alive, Paris `seeking contacts`

Paris: French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that he had "every reason to believe that the hostages are alive", and that Paris was "always seeking contacts" to free them. His comments came after Al-Qaeda`s north African branch said in a statement Saturday that eight European hostages it is holding are alive and well, promising to release a new video of the five Frenchmen among them. "We are always seeking contacts, we have every reason to think that the hostages are alive but we must try to free them," Hollande said during a visit to Qatar. AFP