France sending 2 top ministers to Ivory Coast

PARIS (AP) - France is sending two top ministers to Abidjan to express its solidarity with Ivory Coast after the deadly attack on a beach resort that killed at least 16 people on Sunday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will travel to the West Africa country on Tuesday alongside Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

President Francois Hollande condemned the "cowardly and odious attack" in the town of Grand-Bassam in which one French citizen was killed.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

Paris prosecutor also announced that French intelligence investigators traveled to Grand-Bassam on Monday. The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the attack, calling it murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Anti-terrorism investigators will handle the probe because there was a French victim.