France swiftly rejected four conditions demanded by Somali radicals Thursday for the release of a French security official held hostage since July.

Al-Shabab, the insurgent group with alleged links to Al Qaeda, demanded that France stop supporting Somalia’s government, remove all French personnel from the country, withdraw its Navy from antipiracy patrols in Somali coastal waters, and get the African Union to withdraw its peacekeepers.

The demands come as the group has vowed revenge for Monday’s US commando raid into Somalia, which killed six fighters, including a top terror suspect with ties to Al Qaeda. That raid has raised concerns of reprisals against Western hostages in Somalia.

The French government quickly dismissed the insurgents’ demands, Agence France-Presse reported.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner immediately rejected the demands and pledged support for the troubled government in Mogadishu.

“It is a government that was founded in Djibouti with the support of a majority in Somalia,” Kouchner told France Info radio, referring to Somalia’s internationally-backed transitional government.

“I have met President Sharif (Sheikh Ahmed) and his ministers on two occasions, and they represent Somalia,” he added. “It is completely false to say we are supporting an illegal government.”

Al-Shabab also demanded that France “release all the prisoners of the holy warriors held in many areas, which we will reveal later,” according to the Associated Press. It reported that the French hostage was one of two on a training mission.

The Frenchman, whose identity has not been released, was seized along with another agent July 14 in the capital, Mogadishu. The pair were in the country to train Somali government forces, which are fighting Islamist militiamen.

The kidnappers separated the two men. The other agent escaped in August while his captors slept.

Somalia hasn’t had a functioning government for 18 years, and is considered one of the world’s most hazardous countries.

The country is wracked by violence between several armed groups including Al Shabab, which hopes to topple the weak, Western-backed government in Mogadishu. Al Shabab now controls perhaps a third of the country. (See a map illustrating who controls what parts of the country, from Le Monde.)

At least eight Western aid workers, journalists, or security personnel are still being held hostage in Somalia, according to a Reuters list.

A BBC reporter recently described what it was like to move around the country.

Wherever you go in Somalia you are never far from men with guns.

The trick is to make sure that they are pointing them the right way, that is, for your protection.

Fail to do this and you could quickly find yourself joining the 18,000 people killed here during the last two years.

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