Hostage Effort Sparks Controversy in France
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French President Jacques Chirac appealed for unity Tuesday, as a bungled attempt to rescue two French hostages in Iraq sparked a growing controversy that some fear could hurt efforts to get the men freed.
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France scrambled to secure the release of two French journalists kidnapped by Iraqi militants who gave Paris until Monday evening to drop its controversial ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
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France was torn between hope and doubt  about its two hostages in Iraq on Wednesday after a purported  French negotiator announced their imminent release but  officials insisted they knew nothing about his efforts.
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Two self-appointed negotiators who led a bizarre, independent attempt to free the two French journalists held hostage in Iraq were accused yesterday of &quot;communicating with a foreign
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PARIS : The captors of two French journalists allegedly put forward new demands for their release, but French officials cast doubt on the authenticity of the demands and remained cautiously optimistic about securing their release.
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France has scrambled to secure the freedom of two French journalists kidnapped by Iraqi militants who gave Paris until Monday evening to drop its controversial ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
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PARIS French Muslims are not blaming their government for the recent kidnapping of two journalists in Iraq. The Islamic militants who seized the reporters two weeks ago are demanding that France repeal its ban on headscarves in schools.
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France intensified efforts Tuesday to save two journalists held hostage in Iraq, convening crisis talks in Paris and around the Arab world as a 24-hour execution deadline set by militants neared.
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French media and authorities expressed anger on the weekend at an unofficial mission to free two French journalists taken hostage in Iraq more than six weeks ago which came up empty-handed after promising imminent success.
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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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Two French journalists have been taken hostage in Iraq by Islamic militants demanding the rescission of a ban on the Islamic headscarf in French schools, the Arabic satellite news channel Al-Jazeera reported.
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Damascus - A French lawmaker involved in negotiations to free two French journalists held hostage in Iraq said on Friday that a convoy bringing the two to Syria came under US fire, scuttling their release.
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Determined to save two journalists kidnapped in Iraq, France has frantically called on Arab leaders and Muslim imams and set in motion a swell of solidarity unseen in previous hostage dramas.
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BAGHDAD/PARIS  - Two French hostages held in Iraq  are being well treated but there are hurdles to overcome to  secure their release, officials said.
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The French government have held crisis talks on the fate of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq amid growing uncertainty over whether their
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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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The French government Sunday scrambled to develop a response to kidnappers who grabbed two French journalists in Iraq, demanding Paris revoke a law banning Islamic head scarves in public schools. There was no sign France would capitulate.