The one on the left looks a little fat for being held captive for four months by Terrorists
Posted on 12/21/2004 3:28:32 PM PST by Nick Danger
PARIS (AP) - Joy swept France with the release Tuesday in Iraq of two French reporters held hostage for four months. The government said Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot should be home for Christmas.
France's upper house of parliament erupted with applause when Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told the senators the militant Islamic Army in Iraq had freed the reporters.
"It's the best Christmas present we could get," said Chesnot's brother, Thierry, adding that the two men were in good health.
"Until now, our life was murky. I didn't stop crying - and my husband, too," Malbrunot's mother, Andree, told The Associated Press. "I am really happy," she added, sobbing.
Chesnot, 38, who works for Radio France Internationale, and Malbrunot, 41, a correspondent for the daily Le Figaro, were handed over to French authorities in Baghdad and were expected back in France on Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry said.
President Jacques Chirac was rushing back from vacation in Morocco and planned to make an address Wednesday after the reporters are flown out of the Iraqi capital, his office said.
The men were kidnapped Aug. 20 along with their Syrian driver on the road from Baghdad to Najaf. The driver, Mohammed al-Joundi, was freed in November but said they had been separated for a month.
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera reported that it received a statement from the Islamic Army saying the reporters were freed after it was proven they were not U.S. spies, because of pleas by Islamic groups and because of the French government's stance toward Iraq.
France refused to join the U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein and opposed the war.
Intense negotiations by French diplomats and overwhelming support from the Arab world raised hopes after the men were taken captive that they would be quickly released.
France's Muslim community also lined up behind the government's efforts to win their freedom, with three French Muslim leaders traveling to Baghdad in September.
Their support came despite Muslim opposition in France to a law that banned Islamic head scarves in public schools. The Islamic Army had demanded that the law be revoked, but it went into effect as planned in September.
"We did not succumb to blackmail. Regardless of political, philosophical and religious convictions, there was a real coming together," said Socialist Party legislator Jean-Marc Ayrault.
But as the months dragged on, the government became increasingly tightlipped about its efforts to free the men, saying secrecy was essential. Even Tuesday, officials would not give details about the men's release.
"After four months of waiting, with the highs and the lows, it's such a relief. We're even having trouble believing it. It came out of nowhere," Chesnot's sister, Anne-Marie, told LCI television.
The liberation elicited a mix of joy, surprise and relief on the streets of Paris at a time when hopes were fading for a release.
"It's really great because we had sort of started to give up, I have the impression that it wasn't talked about as much recently," said tourism industry worker Maxime Corbiere. She noted that some government critics had claimed "French diplomacy wasn't what it used to be."
"Apparently, though, it worked."
Raffarin said the release was the "result of constant, difficult and discreet work." He praised "the courage of these two men who suffered these long months in difficult conditions."
The hostages' fate gripped France. Some newspapers carried daily columns counting their days of captivity. Celebrities such as actresses Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche delivered daily radio appeals to remind listeners about the hostage crisis. Giant photos of the men were hung from the facade of Paris' City Hall by press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. The group said it will remove the large pictures of the two on Wednesday.
Reporters Without Borders chief Robert Menard called the release a Christmas present.
"Yesterday we were still pessimistic as Georges and Christian began their fifth month in captivity, today our colleagues are free, and tomorrow that are going to be reunited with their families for the festive season - it's fantastic," he said.
The wired funds must have gotten through.
The freed men immedietly denounced the United States...
SF Republican!!! Jeepers, and I thought being an East Bay republican was tough duty. I salute you.
Well I am glad the frogs are free. No telling what the deal was that got them free , but I think we can be assured it wasnt cheap.
The probably got to stinky and annoying.
"No telling what the deal was that got them free , but I think we can be assured it wasnt cheap."
Probably a promise from Chirac to face Mecca and denounce the US six times a day. Also, enough cash to fund the terrorists until 2050.
Also, it took these guys 4 months to determine the reporters weren't US spies. Man, they must have been doing some heavy-duty research!
that's too bad that they let them go. lol! dirty french bastards!
It sounds a bit like Tenet retired from our CIA and joined their intelligence doesnt it? LOL
I wouldn't be surprised if it's something that will eventually get Americans killed.
"The one on the left looks a little fat for being held captive for four months by Terrorists."
Unless he started out looking like Michael Moore!
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