How much was the ransom? I missed that part.
I dunno, something around 3 millions, but I don't remember if it was in dollars or euros. These two got kidnapped by rather confused hostage-takers.
First, they wanted France to repel a law forbidding Muslim girls to go to school with their headscarf on. It failed, and even managed to put radical Muslims organizations in France(who had demanded the same things weeks before)in a very delicate situation where everyone, including French Muslims, was against them.
Then, they asked for money as if it was the 1980s and Lebanon all over again, and also demanded that France did not meddle into Iraq's affairs ! When I read that I wondered if this gang was either a purely criminal one or on PM Allawi's payroll.