← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · xmetalhead
Thread ID: 16056 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2004-12-21
2004-12-21 19:17 | User Profile
[I]Sometimes it pays, big time, not to be a lapdog of Amerisrael.[/I]
[SIZE=4][B]French journalists freed in Iraq[/B] [/SIZE]
[IMG]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40571000/jpg/_40571203_hostages_b203_ap.jpg[/IMG]
Militants in Iraq have freed French reporters Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, who were taken hostage on 20 August. The French foreign ministry confirmed an Arabic TV report that the two men had been set free and said they would return to France on Wednesday.
They were abducted while driving to the city of Najaf and appeared on a video released in October by their captors.
Their captors said they had been freed because of France's anti-war stance.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told parliament he felt a "profound joy" at news of the release while Thierry Chesnot, brother of Christian, said it was a "wonderful Christmas present".
The two men have been taken to Amman, Jordan, and are in good health, Thierry told the French news agency AFP, after being contacted by the French prime minister's office.
France's defence ministry said they were under orders to prepare "emergency air transportation" for the flight home to France, which should take five or six hours.
Official French statements made no mention of any ransom being paid or other deal to secure the two men's release.
[B]Long ordeal[/B]
Mr Chesnot and Mr Malbrunot are thought to have been the longest-held Western hostages in Iraq.
[I]"They were [freed]... in response to appeals from Islamic institutions and bodies and in appreciation of the French government's stand on the Iraq issue." Islamic Army in Iraq [/I]
[B]The French press ran a continuous campaign for their release.[/B]
Mr Chesnot, 37, was working for Radio France Internationale and Mr Malbrunot, 41, for Le Figaro daily newspaper.
They were taken with their Syrian driver, Mohammed al-Jundi, who was later found during the US-led assault on Falluja.
The journalists' captors - the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) - initially demanded that France scrap a law banning Muslim headscarves from being worn in schools - a demand shunned by France.
[B]Ransom dilemma[/B]
They were later reported to have requested a ransom but a statement quoted by Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera on Tuesday said the reporters were freed for political reasons.
[COLOR=DarkRed]They were freed "because they were proven not to spy for US forces, in response to appeals and demands from Islamic institutions and bodies, and in appreciation of the French government's stand on the Iraq issue and the two journalists' stand on the Palestinian cause", the IAI was quoted as saying. [/COLOR]
Governments have been reluctant to pay ransoms for hostages taken in Iraq and elsewhere in order not to encourage further abductions.
When two Italian hostages were freed in Iraq in September, the government in Rome denied paying a ransom.
However a senior Italian politician said at the time that he believed a ransom of $1m or more had been paid for the two aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta.
MP Gustavo Selva described the denial as purely "official".
Story from BBC NEWS: [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4115975.stm[/url]
Published: 2004/12/21 18:29:41 GMT
é BBC MMIV