Bakassi hostage killing confusion

It is unclear if a French hostage kidnapped by rebels off the coast of Cameroon has been killed.

Militia commander Ebi Dari initially said one of 10 hostages taken by his group from an oil services boat had been shot and died in a rescue attempt.

But on Thursday, militant leaders told Reuters news agency that the man had been shot, but survived the raid.

The group opposed to the transfer of the Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon kidnapped the men last Friday.

The Bakassi Freedom Fighters had threatened to start killing the hostages if Cameroon's government did not talk to them.

Mr Dari said on Thursday that the hostage he said had died during a raid by security forces in the country's Bakassi Peninsula was "fine", Reuters reports

General A G Basuo, claiming to be the militants' director of operations on the ground, told the news agency by phone that one of the hostages had been shot in an exchange of gunfire.

"We first thought he was dead, but when we brought in our medical doctor he certified that the man was still alive and gave all the medical attention he needed to sustain his life," he said.

Gunmen in speedboats abducted the hostages from an oil vessel last week.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the rescue attempt, and there were conflicting reports about whether the security forces involved were from Cameroon or Nigeria.

There have been a number of attacks over the last year against oil installations in the Gulf of Guinea, where the kidnapping took place.

Attacks on oil installations in Nigeria's nearby Niger Delta have been especially frequent.