Silent march in France on 100th day of captivity of journalists held in Iraq

Silent march in France on 100th day of captivity of journalists held in Iraq

BAUGE, France (AFP) - Hundreds of people marked the 100 days in captivity of two French reporters in Iraq with a silent march through a western French town, while the family of one of the kidnapped men appealed for their release before Christmas.

In Bauge in the Loire valley, close to where Christian Chesnot's parents live, about 300 people paraded silently through the town to commemorate the abduction of Chesnot and his colleague Georges Malbrunot -- the two are the longest-held Western hostages in Iraq.

In the march organized by local residents and by human rights organization Amnesty International, the protesters carried signs with the words "100 days" as they made their way to the town hall.

Several people spoke, read poetry or sang songs outside the building, which had been decorated with drawings from local pupils.

Malbrunot's family meanwhile called on the French government to do all it could to see the two newsmen freed.

"We are calling on you (the French government) to exert all its influence to obtain their freedom," the family of Malbrunot, abducted in August south of Baghdad along with Chesnot and their Syrian driver Mohammed al-Jundi, said in a statement addressed to the French president, prime minister and foreign minister.

"It has now been 100 days and 100 nights that Georges and his colleague and friend Christian have been hostages in Iraq," the statement to Jacques Chirac, Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Michel Barnier said.

"For three months, we have been through testing times, full of hope and of doubt," Malbrunot's family wrote from their hometown of Montaiguet-en-Forez in central France.

Chesnot, a freelancer who works for Radio France Internationale, and Malbrunot, a freelancer for Le Figaro newspaper, were abducted along with al-Jundi while on their way to Najaf south of the Iraqi capital.

US troops found al-Jundi two weeks ago in Fallujah, when they attacked the rebel stronghold, and he subsequently said he had been separated from the two Frenchmen in September.


photo credit: Frank Perry - (AFP)
Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse.