French hostages in Iraq freed after four months

PARIS - Two French journalists have been freed in Iraq, ending a four-month hostage ordeal at the hands of Islamic militants that had shocked France and embarrassed President Jacques Chirac's government.

"I have the profound joy of announcing that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have been freed by the Islamic Army (in Iraq)," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told France's Senate to loud applause followed by a standing ovation.

A delighted Chirac was to break off his Christmas vacation in Morocco and return to Paris late on Tuesday, his office said.

Staff at Chesnot's employer Radio France Internationale celebrated with champagne as family members struggled to come to terms with news they said had come as a bolt from the blue.

"It's a very beautiful Christmas present, the most beautiful Christmas present you could have," Chesnot's brother Thierry told reporters.

"After four months of waiting we're just relieved, frankly. It's almost difficult for us to believe it right now, it's the best Christmas present ever," his sister Anne-Marie added.

It was not clear whether any deal had been reached to secure the release of Le Figaro reporter Malbrunot, 41, and Chesnot, 37, who were seized with their Syrian driver Mohammad al-Jundi on August 20 between Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf.

A group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq initially demanded France dump a law banning the traditional Muslim headscarf in French state schools, but appeared to make no new demands after the law went into force at the start of September.

The kidnapping stunned France, which opposed the United States-led war in Iraq, and triggered an unprecedented display of support for France from Arab and Muslim leaders.

But even that, and a trip to the region by leaders of France's five million-strong Muslim community, failed to secure the quick release of the journalists.

It was not immediately clear how the men had been freed.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was to fly to Baghdad on Tuesday night and would return with the pair late on Wednesday, Raffarin's office said.

Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera said earlier on Tuesday that Iraqi militants had handed over the two to the French embassy in Baghdad but the mission did not confirm this.

Al Jazeera television quoted a statement it received from the Islamic Army in Iraq as saying the men "were freed this afternoon because it was proven they were not spies for the American forces".

The men had been set free in recognition of calls from Islamic institutions and as a gesture to Paris for its position on Iraq, and the "journalists' stance on the Palestinian issue".

The Islamic Army in Iraq was quoted in September as saying it had conditionally agreed to free the men. It said the two had "willingly agreed" to work for it to inform the West about the realities of the US-led war and the Iraqi resistance.

The fate of the two Frenchmen contrasted with that of more than 120 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq since April. More than three dozen have been killed. Some, like Briton Kenneth Bigley and British-Iraqi Margaret Hassan, pleaded in vain for their lives in videos released by their captors.

The release of the two reporters ends months of anguish in France. National newspapers kept a daily tally of their ordeal and stars of film and stage had joined a media rights group's campaign to keep their plight in the public eye.

Hopes of a successful end to the crisis rose on several occasions only to be dashed. US Marines found their driver al-Jundi in Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad last month during an offensive to wrest the city from rebel control.

Tuesday's development could, however, help erase memories of the government's embarrassment after the collapse of a freelance mediation effort to free the men in October. The fiasco led to angry exchanges in parliament but political leaders quickly closed ranks again.

- REUTERS