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Captors ask France for ransom and pledge

A statement purportedly from the captors of two French journalists in Iraq gave France 48 hours Monday to accept three new conditions – agreeing to a recent truce offer by Osama bin Laden, paying a $5 million ransom and pledging not to get involved in Iraq.

The Islamic Army of Iraq has decided to make “the following demands to release the two French hostages,” said a statement posted on an Islamic Web site. The statement, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, listed the demands as “accepting a truce between them and Sheik Osama bin Laden, paying a $5 million ransom and pledging not to engage militarily and commercially in Iraq.”

France Telecom employees protest privatization plans

France Telecom employees protested government plans to privatize the group, with management characterizing the mobilization as modest and unions describing it as robust resistance.

Company officials said 18.3 percent of the workforce heeded calls for a 24-hour strike, while the SUD-PTT union spoke of a figure of 25 percent and said the response was “significant.”

Another union, the CGT, said between 30 and 70 percent of the workforce was on strike, with turnout varying among branches.

The strike call followed an announcement by the government September 1 that it would reduce its stake in France Telecom to below 50 percent.

French Hostages Said Alive, Headscarf Ban Enforced

Islamic militants in Iraq have handed over two French hostages to another guerrilla group opposed to their kidnap and murder, the editor of one of the reporters held captive said Thursday.

As hopes rose that Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot could be released as soon as Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told reporters he understood the pair were “alive and getting good treatment.”

Le Figaro editor Jean de Belot said on France Info radio: “The latest information is that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have been handed over by the Islamic Army in Iraq to an Iraqi Sunni guerrilla group… an opposition that we know for a few days now has been in favor of the release of the hostages.”

French Cabinet meets over hostages

The French government has been working feverishly to win the release of the two — taken hostage by a radical Islamic group in Iraq — but has steadfastly said it will not repeal the controversial head scarf ban.

As Raffarin met with his cabinet Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was in Amman to meet with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muashar. He also may meet with King Abdullah II.

The meetings come after Barnier visited with Egyptian officials Monday in hopes of finding some way to secure the captives’ freedom.

In Russia, French President Jacques Chirac brought up the crisis in his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

France Races Against Clock in Iraq Hostage Crisis

France scrambled to secure the release of two French journalists kidnapped by Iraqi militants who gave Paris until Monday evening to drop its controversial ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, in Egypt as part of a French mission to rally support in Iraq and the region, made an impassioned plea to the Islamic Army in Iraq to free Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot.

The militant group, which last week said it killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, Saturday gave the French government 48 hours to rescind the headscarf ban, without saying what would happen to the two Frenchmen if it did not comply.