French officials were fully mobilized to free national hostages, abducted by Islamist insurgents in the Sahel region, unharmed, the country's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"The French authorities demand ... the release of our countrymen safe ...and they are fully mobilized to achieve this objective," the ministry said.

"No track is neglected," it added in a statement in response to al Qaeda's North African arm, AQIM's blame of refusing to negotiate the release of French hostages the group is holding in the Sahel region.

AQIM threatened in September to start killing hostages if Paris supported a military intervention in northern Mali.

Earlier this month, a brother of one of the hostages raised a question over the deadlocked release of four hostages who have been seized by the Islamist cell since September 2010.

French expatriates have been the target of Islamist groups in the Sahel region in response to Paris' military commitment in Afghanistan and to continued support of a planned military operation to oust Islamists insurgents from the northern region of Mali.

Seven French nationals are already in the hands of kidnappers in the region.