26 Sep 2014

New Caledonia lowers flag in memory of Gourdel

1:55 pm on 26 September 2014

The New Caledonian president has ordered that flags be flown at half mast in memory of Herve Gourdel - the Frenchman executed by his captors in Algeria.

Cynthia Ligeard says the flags will remain lowered until Sunday.

Mr Gourdel, who was 55, was captured by the Islamist group Jund al-Khilifa while hiking in a national park on Sunday - one day after he arrived in Algeria for a 10-day walking holiday.

He was beheaded as France was considering air strikes against jihadists in Syria.