Emmanuel Macron received the kidnapped tourists who were saved by the French army in Burkina Faso

The two French tourists rescued from their captors in Burkina Faso by an apparently jihadist commando, in an operation during which two soldiers of his country are dead, were received soberly this Saturday on his return to France for the President Emmanuel Macron.

Both men had been caught in a region of Benin that France discourages from visitingsaid his foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Saturday.

The President of the Republic greeted them briefly, as well as the former South Korean hostage released at the same time as them, after being arrested Military Falcon who had just landed at Villacoublay Air Base, south of Paris.

The head of state met after a few minutes behind closed doors the former hostages and their families at the base.

"It is very important that the military move on the spot, they exercise their role of chief of the armed forces", explained the environment of the president.

"His decision to receive the hostages is accompanied by his decision to pay tribute to the army on Tuesday " in Paris, continued the source, who recalled that Macron "is the president of all the French, including those who have committed unconscious acts".

The head of the French state will preside at the beginning of next week national tribute ceremony to the two deceased soldiers.

Laurent Lbadimouillas, one of the former hostages, sang the mea culpa. "Without a doubt, we should have taken more into account the recommendations of the state and the complexity of Africa and avoid going to this beautiful region of the world that unfortunately turns to instability"he stated.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally discourages its citizens to go to the northern tip of Benin., border with Burkina Faso and Niger, "because of the presence of groups of armed terrorists and the risk of kidnapping".

The release of the two French tourists, Patrick Picque and Laurent Lbadimouillas, kidnapped on May 1 in northern Benin, then taken to neighboring Burkina Faso, ended with the death of two French Special Forces soldiers in the night from Thursday to Friday.

The body of a local guide was found next to the vehicle in which the French were travelingshortly after his disappearance.

Intelligence services performed locate the French tourist kidnappers in the semi-desert region of eastern Burkina Fasofrom where they were preparing to cross the border with Mali.

The authorities believe that the hostages were handed over to the Macina Liberation Front (LWF), group formed in 2015 and related to Al Qaeda in the region.

Jihadist attacks, initially concentrated in northern Mali, They spread to the center of the country and then to Burkina Faso. Now they threaten the coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea, so far from the action of these groups.

"The threat has changed shape, it is much more mobile and now affects the countries of southern Mali " according to the French minister Le Drian.

Macron gave the order Thursday to attack the camp of the kidnappers where Picque and Lbadimouillas were released, as well as American and South Korean hostages.

The identity of these has not been communicated. "Nobody knew about his presence" in Burkina, according to the French Chief of Staff, General François Lecointre. "They were taken hostage for 28 days"he says

In addition to the two French soldiers killed in the rescue operation, four of the six kidnappers died.

Valerie Leroux and Joseph Schmid for AFP