Herve Gourdel
Herve GourdelReuters

The Algerian government has identified the suspects in the beheading of Frenchman Hervé Gourdel, Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Louh said Tuesday, according to the International Business Times.

Soldiers of the Caliphate, or Jund al-Khilafa, claimed responsibility for the beheading, which was recorded and distributed last week.

Gourdel was kidnapped while hiking southeast of Algiers on September 14. Soldiers of the Caliphate announced it had captured Gourdel on Monday and gave France 24 hours to call off airstrikes against the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) in Iraq, to which they pledged allegiance, or they would execute Gourdel.

French President Francois Hollande refused and said France "will give in to no blackmail, no pressure, no ultimatum."

Gourdel's beheading was similar to the deaths of U.S. journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley by the Islamic State. The Islamic State group also claimed those beheadings were in retaliation for American strikes against its fighters in Iraq.

The group is also holding British journalist John Cantlie, and on Monday released a third video of him, in which he delivers a scripted propaganda attack against U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy in Iraq and Syria.