French reporters freed in Iraq due back in Paris to heroes' welcome

PARIS, Dec 22 (AFP) - Two French journalists freed by insurgents in Iraq after a four-month kidnap ordeal were expected back in Paris Wednesday, where they will be greeted by President Jacques Chirac and given a rapturous homecoming. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier left aboard a 14-seater airforce plane early in the day to pick up Christian Chesnot of Radio France Internationale and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper, the defence ministry said.

The two were believed to be in the French diplomatic compound in Baghdad but for security reasons were expected to be transferred out of Iraq to be picked up by Barnier's plane.

Officials said the minister's plane was headed to either Cyprus or the Jordanian capital Amman to pick up the reporters and would be back in Paris around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT).

"The nightmare is over, we are going to be able to resume a normal life," Malbrunot's 70-year-old mother, Andree, told AFP at her home in central France.

"We're going to have a happy Christmas."

Christian Chesnot's brother Thierry echoed Malbrunot's mother: "This is a huge relief. It's a wonderful Christmas present."

It was with "deep joy" that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin informed the French senate late Tuesday that the two reporters were now free after months of anguish and tortured diplomacy.

Their kidnapping, on August 20 south of of Baghdad, had sparked soul-searching and incomprehension in France, which opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and which has among the best ties with the Arab world of any Western power.

As the months dragged on, Chesnot, 37, and Malbrunot, 41 became the longest-held Western hostages in Iraq. Several other foreign hostages have been murdered by their captors.

A statement by the group which had held the pair hostage, the Islamic Army in Iraq, cited France's anti-war stance as one of the reasons it decided to finally release the two.

They were freed "because they were proven not to spy for US forces, in response to appeals and demands from Islamic institutions and bodies, and in appreciation of the French government's stand on the Iraq issue and the two journalists' stand on the Palestinian cause," said a statement, broadcast on Al-Jazeera television.

It was unknown to what extent French officials played a part in the release.

Paris had repeatedly said it was working towards that goal with "discretion" but gave no details of any progress after the failure of an unofficial mission by an Arabic-speaking MP in September.

Iraq's ambassador in France, Mowafak Abbud, claimed "joint efforts" between his government and Paris "made a significant contribution to this release" and expressed hope bilateral relations would now improve.

Jubilation over the men's release was seen nationwide in France.

Photographs of the pair filled the front pages of all the newspapers Wednesday under headlines reading "Free!" and "Finally!", while television and radio news broadcasts covered the development in length.

Giant pictures of the pair that had been set up outisde the capital's City Hall for most of their detention were also to be taken down in a general sense of satisfaction.

Chirac cut short a vacation in Morocco to return to Paris to greet the journalists Wednesday.

In a statement, he thanked French officials for their hard work behind the scenes and said: "At the end of this long wait, shared by all the French, I want to express all our joy to our two compatriots and to their families and their loved ones who showed extraordinary courage and responsibility."

The journalists' Syrian driver Mohammad al-Jundi, captured at the same time as them, was found in Fallujah on November 12 after US-led forces launched an offensive to clear the city of rebels. He has threatened to sue US soldiers for maltreatment.

Hostage-taking has become common in Iraq, where chaos and bloodshed have taken hold despite efforts by the US-led military coalition to impose security.

Foreigners are particularly targeted, and several, including an aid worker with British and Iraqi nationality, Margaret Hassan, have been murdered by their captors.

The Islamic Army in Iraq's only demand relating to the French hostages was that Paris repeal a law banning Islamic headscarves in French state schools.

The French government refused, and that law came into effect in September.