Nairobi/Bamako - Extremist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for kidnapping four European tourists at the end of January in Mali, a group which monitors extremist websites said.

US-based SITE Intelligence carried pictures of the four - one German, two Swiss and a Briton - on its website, saying the pictures came from AQIM.

The three pictures show the four haggard tourists squatting in the desert with masked gunmen lined up behind them.

AQIM said it was also holding two Canadian diplomats taken several months earlier.

The group normally holds those it seizes to ransom, and indicated it would publish demands for the release of the hostages.

The tourists were travelling in a three-car convoy near the border between Mali and Niger, returning from a festival of nomadic culture, when they were taken.

One of the cars managed to escape with another three tourists.

The area where the tourists were taken is harsh desert terrain and is populated by the nomadic Tuareg people. (dpa)