FRENCH SEIZED IN IRAQ

[Talon]

FRENCH SEIZED IN IRAQ

Two French citizens have reportedly been kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq.

Arabic TV station al Jazeera said gunmen demanded an end to the ban on Muslim headscarves in French schools in return for the captives' lives.

The television network named the group responsible as the Islamic Army of Iraq.

It said it had received a video showing the two hostages, but gave no further details.

It was not immediately clear if it was the same group that al Jazeera said on Friday had murdered an Italian hostage.

France's law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools passed its final parliamentary hurdle in March.

Link

****ing terrorist b*stards, not satisfied at messing up Iraq they're now out to interfer with French laws from a continent away.

Edited August 28, 2004 by Talon S.

[seventh_son]

I hope the French don't give in to the demands of the terrorist. I understand the

desire to bring their citizens home safely but there is a lot more at stake than the lives of these two men. If nations give in to the threats of these animals we are all in for a very long future of ruthless and devistating consequences.

[Talon]

CHIRAC'S PLEA TO MILITANTS

French President Jacques Chirac has urged Islamic militants to release two French journalists they are holding in Iraq.

He has sent Foreign Minister Michel Barnier to the region to help seek their freedom.

The Islamic Army in Iraq kidnapped journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot and demanded that France revoke its ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools within 48 hours.

"Today, the whole nation is united because the life of two Frenchmen is at stake," Chirac said in a televised address.

"Backed up by this national unity, I solemnly call for the release of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. Everything is being done and everything will be done in the coming hours and days to achieve this."

Barnier would leave for the Middle East immediately, he added.

Chesnot of Radio France International and Malbrunot, who writes for the dailies Le Figaro and Ouest France, disappeared eight days ago on their way from Baghdad to Najaf.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said France had no intention of revoking the headscarf ban, which is due to take effect when state schools reopen on Thursday.

"We want everyone to know that secularism in our country does not divide the French but unites them," he told a news briefing flanked by about a dozen Muslim leaders.

Link

[bathory]

****ing terrorist b*stards, not satisfied at messing up Iraq they're now out to interfer with French laws from a continent away.

wow, france didn't even need to invade a country!

i mean really, isn't it obvious what the mindset of these people is?

they won't leave us alone if we leave them alone, this is a perfect example.

France has always had that whole secular deal going, don't like it? get the **** out of the country then.

"change your laws to suit us"

blow me, change your lifestyle to fit in

[Talon]

"change your laws to suit us"

Yeah, its called muli-culturalism... it sucks.

[Talon]

FRANCE FIRM ON SCARF BAN

France has vowed not to revoke a law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools - ignoring demands by militants holding two French journalists hostage in Iraq.

In a statement the government declared it was not prepared to compromise the country's national values.

In Cairo, meanwhile, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier made an appeal for the journalists' release.

Mr Barnier is in Egypt for urgent talks on the issue with Arab diplomats.

President Chirac has promised to spare no effort to secure the hostages' freedom.

In July, Egyptian diplomacy secured the release of one of Cairo's diplomats in Baghdad.

Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were kidnapped almost a fortnight ago after leaving Baghdad.

Their captors demanded the French ban on headscarves be overturned within 48 hours.

They denounced the headscarf law as "an aggression on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms".

link

[+joc]

My bet goes to the French cowering and giving into the demands of the Terrorists.

Two to one odds....who wants in on the action?

[bathory]

hahah, the french will fold faster than superman on laundry day:P

[wcturnersr]

I'm sorry, but one of those hostage's names is "Christian". I do not believe the terrorists will let him/her go. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong name.

[gollum]

These terrorists are clutching at anything to get there point across.

The French do'nt even have any troops over there.

I really think this is the sh*tiest level these b*st*rds can go to!

What's next?

[Babs]

bathory wrote:

wow, france didn't even need to invade a country! I mean isn't it obvious what the mindset of these people is? They won't leave us alone if we leave them alone, this is a perfect example.

This is what I have been trying to say all along; they will not stop. The philosophy about 'burying your head in the sand' won't work, it will come crashing down 'on your head!'

"Leaving them alone doesn't make them leave you alone".

If they had the balls to hit 'the super-dupper power', they are ready. They are going to take over the world.

Just think: they are strong, they are backed, they are financed....

[Fluffybunny]

The latest;

France: Headscarf ban stays

Foreign minister tries to free hostages in Iraq

link

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- The French government has said it will not revoke a law banning Muslim headscarves in public schools, despite demands by a militant Islamic group holding two French journalists hostage in Iraq.

"The law will be applied," spokesman Jean-Francois Cope told Canal Plus television Monday.

Meanwhile Monday, France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier visited Egyptian government officials and Arab leaders but said there was no new word on the journalists' fate.

In Paris, Barnier's spokeswoman said he will meet Tuesday morning with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muashar in Amman and may also meet with King Abdullah.

Following a meeting Monday with Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, Barnier said the journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, were still missing.

"We have had no further contact, again no contact but we are making all efforts to attain their immediate freedom," said Barnier.

"Our embassy in Baghdad knows the region has sent representatives to the region to explore all routes, gather all information possible and make all contacts possible to secure their release, we have experience in these matters, it requires discretion, basically we are seeking a guarantee of their security."

On Sunday, French officials including President Jacques Chirac condemned the abduction of the two journalists.

Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin told reporters: "Today, the whole nation is united because the life of two Frenchmen is at stake as well as freedom of expression and the values of the republic."

He added: "From the first day, everything, let me repeat it, everything, has been done to obtain their release. The government is totally mobilized."

Aides to the minister said Barnier would visit several countries, but did not identify which.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin demanded the group, calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, release Radio France International's Chesnot and Le Figaro's Malbruno, who were reported missing August 21 on their way from Baghdad to Najaf.

"France is the country of the French revolution, of human rights," said de Villepin. "France has never stopped fighting for the freedom of all, for tolerance and the respect of the human being.

"The French people as a whole, all origins and religions together, are together behind our compatriots Christian and Georges. Together we demand that they be set free."

According to the Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera, the kidnappers are part of the same group that claimed to have kidnapped an Italian journalist and killed him after Italy refused to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Al-Jazeera aired a video of the two journalists in captivity Saturday.

Muslim leaders back France

French Muslim leaders said they stood with de Villepin.

"Today we live a sad moment for all the Muslims of France, because he who touches a human life touches the life of humanity as a whole," said Fouad Alaoui, vice president of the Union of French Muslim Organizations.

"I make a call of the hostage takers, in the name of Islam and God the gracious, not to betray the principles of Islam."

Dalil Boubaker, president of the French Muslim Council, said the Muslim community was "solid in its compassion" for the journalists and their families.

"We want to express our solidarity, and the union of the French country -- Muslim or not Muslim -- and to take this opportunity to join ourselves to this call, in this demand to the hostage takers, in the name of Islam, in the name of the most sacred, that human life is the most sacred gift from God, to spare the life of our compatriots," he said.

French Muslims have protested against a law that takes effect when school starts this week that bars students from wearing anything that would signify their religious affiliation, including large crosses or Jewish skullcaps.

But Fatiha Ajbli of the Union of Islamic Organizations said it was "out of the question" for the headscarf issue to be "a pretext for criminal comportment."

"We refute the blackmail of taking hostages," she said.

"It is imperative for me to say here that we wish that this national cohesion, the national unity takes shape, that I'm ready because I don't want a bloodstained headscarf, to join others with headscarves to go to Iraq to act as a substitute hostage."

Meanwhile, the Spanish government Monday expressed its "support and solidarity" for the French journalists and for the French government in a phone call from Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso to de Villepin, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Spain called for the release of the two French journalists as soon as possible and offered any help it could to resolve the situation in Spain's dual capacity as France's southern neighbor and as a fellow member of the European Union, the statement said.

[Talon]

My bet goes to the French cowering and giving into the demands of the Terrorists.

Two to one odds....who wants in on the action? 

Is this belief motivated by the same one that led to the US calling French Fries and French Vanilla, Freedom Fries and Freedom Vanilla?

[+joc]

Is this belief motivated by the same one that led to the US calling French Fries and French Vanilla, Freedom Fries and Freedom Vanilla?

No. That was something else. This is motivated by the belief that the French Government is spineless to the core. A bunch of cowards frankly.

[Talon]

And the terrorists are getting desperate

NEW HOSTAGE DEADLINE

A video of two French journalists taken hostage in Iraq has been broadcast, in which they call on France to revoke its ban on the wearing of Islamic scarfs in schools.

The pictures were shown on Al-Jazeera television as the Monday night deadline set by the kidnappers was reportedly extended by 24 hours.

The pair say they might be killed soon.

"I appeal to the French people to go to the streets... because our lives are threatened," hostage Georges Malbrunot said in English.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has not said what it would do to Christian Chesnot, of Radio France, and Mr Malbrunot, of Le Figaro newspaper, if its demands were not met.

But the group is thought to be behind the murder of an Italian journalist after Rome ignored an ultimatum to withdraw troops from Iraq.

In France, thousands demonstrated against the hostage taking. It has also been widely condemned in the Arab and Islamic worlds.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was due in Jordan from Egypt late on Monday, as part of government efforts to secure the men's release.

France has made clear that the headscarf ban part of a "secularity" law aimed at reinforcing the separation of religion and state - will go ahead when schools re-open on Thursday.

Link

Wouldn't is funny if this made France do a 180 Degree reversal on its policy toward the Coalition

Edited August 31, 2004 by Talon S.

[bathory]

so other than continually giving them what they want, how do we combat terrorism?

[Talon]

so other than continually giving them what they want, how do we combat terrorism?

er... kill them?

[Velikovsky]

Is this belief motivated by the same one that led to the US calling French Fries and French Vanilla, Freedom Fries and Freedom Vanilla?

No. That was something else. This is motivated by the belief that the French Government is spineless to the core. A bunch of cowards frankly.

Are these the same French who saved our asses in the Revolutionary War? The ones who without their help there wouldn't even be a United States. The same ones who had memorials all over their country after 9-11. Maybe this thread should be merged with Hate Speech.

[Kismit]

Some of these posts are quite offensive , perhaps you missed the generalisations memo Bathory . Comments such as do you know what your Country does are quite flammatory . And tend to create a lot of unnessicary angst amongst other posters .

Lets try and keep them out of our posts please .

[Babs]

so other than continually giving them what they want, how do we combat terrorism?

er... kill them?

250107[/snapback]

YES.

[panther10758]

Simply yes. The reason terrorism exist is because it WORKS! Sad truth Countries that give in to terrorist only make matters worse. Example Phillipines once they gave terrorist what they wanted they won (Terrorist) Its sad for famlies etc but we (anyone) cannot allow any person or group to hold us hostage! We fought for a freedom back in 1700's and should continue that fight! Seek and destroy! We cannot bargin with terorist under any condition!

[Talon]

We cannot bargin with terorist under any condition!

Now as much as I hope France doesn't give in, I'm pretty sure that statement there would do a 180 degree turn if it was your family being held hostage.

[Talon]

GADDAFI IN HOSTAGE APPEAL

The Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi has appealed for the release of two French newsmen held hostage in Iraq.

In a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the coup that brought his regime to power, he said: "I find it astonishing that they are kidnapping French people.

"France has always stood by Iraq, so these people should say: wait, these are French people, we should protect them."

An extended ultimatum from the kidnappers of journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot passed on Tuesday evening with no immediate word on their fate.

A television report that the release of the pair could be "imminent" was dismissed as rumour by the French government.

Sunni Muslim militants of the Islamic Army of Iraq have demanded that France lift a ban on conspicuous religious insignia, including the Islamic headscarf, in state schools.

France has rejected the demand.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13209527,00.html

[DC09]

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Edited August 31, 2004 by Kellalor

[Talon]

Seems about right