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 Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is leaving Paris to bring them back.
President Jacques Chirac has announced he is cutting
short a holiday in Morocco to greet the two men on their return to
France, the French news agency AFP reports.
‘Christmas gift’
France’s defence ministry said it was preparing
“emergency air transportation” for the men. The flight should take five
or six hours.