Pope Appeals for Iraq Hostages; French Cling to Hope
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Pope John Paul, echoing appeals by Muslim  leaders, called Wednesday for the release of two French  journalists held hostage in Iraq as France's foreign minister  pressed on with a Middle East rescue mission.
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PARIS  -- As hopes dimmed that two French journalists held captive in Iraq would be freed soon, French President Jacques Chirac was to discuss the crisis Sunday with his foreign minister, who returned from a mission to the Middle East with no news of
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Two French journalists held hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq appealed late Monday for their countrymen and president to save their lives by giving in to their captors' demand to rescind a ban on Muslim head scarves in French schools.
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Pope John Paul appealed yesterday for the release of the French and other hostages in Iraq, saying human beings could not be treated like merchandise.
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Two Italian humanitarian workers held by kidnappers for 21 days in Iraq thanked Pope John Paul II for his prayers and public appeals for their release.
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Appeals from Ireland and Britain for Iraq hostage Ken Bigley encourage hopes he will be freed, the Irish foreign minister has said.
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BAGHDAD : The clock was ticking down for two French hostages whose Islamist abductors have served Paris with an ultimatum to lift a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools, while Iraq&#39;s government continued efforts to end the chaos prevailing in the country.
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Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday encouraged Christians and Muslims in Iraq to continue their centuries-old brotherly ties as he prayed for peace and harmony in the violence-wracked country.
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An anxious French government accelerated  its diplomatic bid to save two French reporters held hostage in  Iraq on Tuesday as a fresh kidnapper deadline neared for Paris  to scrap a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
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French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has flown back to Paris from Jordan to brief President Jacques Chirac on efforts to save two French hostages in Iraq amid hopes they will soon be freed.
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IRAQI Prime Minister Iyad Allawi today appealed to global leaders to help his nation defeat terrorism as the world awaited the fate of British hostage Kenneth Bigley and woke to news of more kidnappings.
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CAIRO, Egypt - France's foreign minister appealed Monday for the release of two French journalists abducted in Baghdad, saying the French respect all religions. He did not rule out traveling to Baghdad...
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France said on Sunday it still hopes two  French hostages in Iraq will be freed, although its foreign  minister returned from a Middle East mission empty-handed  without securing their release.
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French President Jacques Chirac has sent his foreign minister to the Middle East to try to win freedom for two journalists held in Iraq by militants demanding France end its ban on Muslim headscarves in ...
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Pope John Paul II issued a new appeal for peace in Iraq and the Middle East, condemning the &quot;horror&quot; of violence as well as &quot;the terrorism that cruelly targets the innocent&quot;.
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French officials gathered for crisis talks Tuesday to save the lives of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq, while aides to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for the release of the reporters as a deadline set by militants
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PARIS - President Jacques Chirac dispatched his foreign minister to the Middle East on Sunday to work for the release of two French reporters abducted in Iraq, vowing to spare no effort to free them from kidnappers demanding the France scrap its ban on Islamic head scarves in state schools.    Chirac appealed to the kidnappers with an implicit reminder that France opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq...