Niger jails driver of French hostage - source

NIAMEY May 16 (Reuters) - Niger authorities have jailed the driver of a French tourist taken hostage last month in the West African country's remote northern desert, accusing him of complicity in the kidnapping, a judicial source said on Sunday.

The Algerian driver, Ouaghi Abidine, was originally thought to have been taken hostage alongside Frenchman Michel Germaneau before being released four days later in Mali and returned to Algeria by camel riders who found him in the desert.

"A judge has accused Ouaghi Abidine of complicity in the abduction and kidnapping and he has been placed in a civilian prison in Niamey. The Algerian was extradited by his country early last week," a judicial source in Niamey told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Al Qaeda's north African wing claims still to be holding Germaneau, 78, and has demanded the release of Islamist militants before it will free him.

The kidnapping was the latest in a string of attacks in the vast desert region, where governments have little influence and an array of bandits, smugglers, former rebels and groups linked to al Qaeda operate.

Western countries say that unless decisive action is taken, al Qaeda insurgents could turn the Sahara into a safe haven along the lines of Somalia or Yemen and launch attacks from it.

In an effort to improve the disjointed response to the threat, Mali, Niger, Algeria and Mauritania opened a joint military headquarters last week in the southern Algerian town of Tamanrasset. (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Tim Pearce)