Al-Qaeda's north African branch claimed Tuesday it was holding three Spaniards and a Frenchman seized last month.

The hostages are being held by a hardline cell of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which claimed responsibility for killing a British hostage earlier this year, according to a Mali security source.

Frenchman Pierre Camatte was seized November 25 in Mali while the three Spaniards were kidnapped four days later in neighbouring Mauritania.

For the first time, AQIM said it was holding all four, in a video released by Al-Jazeera television.

"Two units of the valiant mujahedeen managed to kidnap four Europeans in two distinct operations," said Saleh Abu Mohammad, spokesman for AQIM -- the self-styled north African branch of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda.

The spokesman, who identified the Spanish hostages by name, added that "France and Spain will be informed later of the legitimate demands of the mujahedeen." He did not go into detail about the demands.

Speaking in the northern Mali town of Menaka, the state security source told AFP that the three Spaniards "are in the hands of the hardline wing of AQIM led by Abou Zeid."

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the cell as "very dangerous."

"We must act quickly. Abou Zeid has already killed a British tourist," referring to Edwin Dyer, who was executed in June, six months after being kidnapped in Niger, near the Mali border.

A shield

Another security source added that for Zeid "the hostages can act as a shield against a possible military attack on his positions and as a means of getting money too."

The Spanish government said it considered the claim credible.

Camatte was snatched from a hotel in Menaka in the Sahel region of northern Mali, more than 1,500 kilometres (1,000 miles) from the capital Bamako, during the night of November 25.

Malian and Western security forces say the Frenchman, a regular visitor to Mali where he cultivates a plant known for its anti-malaria properties, is being held by a hardline faction within Al-Qaeda's north African branch.

Menaka's mayor said no ransom should be paid as "this will only encourage people to kidnap peaceful citizens.

"We are demanding the speedy release of Pierre Camatte who has become a citizen of our town," Bayes Ag Mohamed said. "We are not sitting with our arms crossed. We are also working towards his release."

The three Spanish volunteers, two men and a women, were travelling in Mauritania in a convoy delivering humanitarian aid to west Africa when they were kidnapped on November 29.

Identified as Albert Vilalta, 35, Alicia Gamez, 35, and Roque Pascual, 50, they were delivering humanitarian aid for the Spanish group Barcelona Accio Solidaria when they were abducted.

The Spanish kidnappings were the first in Mauritania, which has endured two years of deadly attacks claimed by AQIM.

According to the editor of Mauritania's independent weekly Tahalil Hebdo, Isselmou Ould Salihi, the militants are "targetting Europe, and especially France and Spain, who are involved in the fight against AQIM in the region."

"They want to get leverage to negotiate the liberation of their fighters held in Nouakchott and to get ransoms."

A security source in northern Mali said the kidnappings were "calculated and organised" for maximum impact.

"AQIM has prepared its strike well," said the source. "It wanted to -- and managed to -- deal several blows at once, to several countries."

-AFP