Marie Dedieu held hostage by Somali pirates dies

A disabled Frenchwoman kidnapped from her holiday home in northern Kenyan and taken to Somalia has died, the French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Marie Dedieu was seized on October 1, prompting a sea battle between Kenyan forces and her abductors.The forces pursued the men as they raced in a high-speed boat toward the border. But despite a shoot-out, the abductors fled.

Kenyan officials sent mediators into Somalia a day later to negotiate her release.The French Foreign Ministry condemned her killing, saying "it is almost sure" of her death even if it did not have her body."She was an ill and disabled woman," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said. "This is therefore a deeply barbaric and violent act. France condemns firmly this act."