AKIPRESS.COM - French President François Hollande has vowed to find out the truth behind the death of a French hostage in Mali and promised "it will not go unpunished," The Local reported. 

It comes after a jihadist group announced on Wednesday the death of Frenchman Gilberto Rodrigues Leal.

One of Mali's top jihadist groups said on Tuesday a French hostage it had kidnapped in November 2012 was dead.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of Al-Qaeda's regional branch, told AFP Gilberto Rodrigues Leal "is dead, because France is our enemy".

Yoro Abdoul Salam, a spokesman for the group, gave no details on the date or circumstances of Rodrigues Leal's death during a brief telephone exchange.

Pressed for evidence in the absence of any pictures or video footage of Rodrigues Leal's body, he said that "in the name of Allah, he is dead", before hanging up.

Last week another MUJAO official warned of "the end of life" for the 62-year-old hostage in a short message from a Malian mobile phone sent to AFP.

"France will do everything to find the truth about what happened to Gilberto Rodrigues Leal and will not let it go unpunished," French President Francois Hollande said in a statement.