French Leaders Discuss Hostage Crisis in Iraq
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French leaders began high-level meetings on Sunday on the fate of two French hostages in Iraq after Foreign Minister Michel Barnier returned to Paris empty-handed from a Middle East rescue mission.
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The French foreign minister was expected Sunday to begin negotiations for the release of two journalists taken hostage in Iraq.
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France's government and leaders of its Muslim minority urged Iraqi militants Sunday to free two French journalists they were holding hostage in a bid to force Paris to revoke its ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
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BAGHDAD, Aug 29  - For the first time since the kidnappings of foreigners started in Iraq in April, hostage takers have set conditions external to the country by demanding that France lift a ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools.
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Two French journalists taken hostage in Iraq are believed to be alive and safe, France&#39;s defence minister has said. But Sunni Muslim clerics in Iraq say efforts to free them are being hampered by the escalation of security operations led by US forces.
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The French government prepared for crisis talks Tuesday to save the lives of two journalists held hostage in Iraq, while aides to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for the release of the reporters as a deadline set by their kidnappers neared.
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France's government and leaders of its  Muslim minority urged Iraqi militants Sunday to free two French  journalists they were holding hostage in a bid to force Paris  to revoke its ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
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PARIS, France -- The French government says it still hopes two journalists held hostage in Iraq will be freed but that it does not want to put at risk their release by talking about the issue too much.
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Diplomatic efforts mount as a deadline nears for two French journalists held hostage in Iraq.
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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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BAGHDAD/PARIS  - France said Friday two French  hostages held in Iraq were being well treated but there were  hurdles to overcome to secure their release.
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French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has held an emergency meeting with senior cabinet ministers to discuss how to respond to the apparent kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq.
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France pressed on with efforts to save two French journalists held hostage in Iraq on Thursday after a deadline to rescind a law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools passed without word from the kidnappers.
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French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has summoned colleagues for an emergency meeting to discuss the kidnapping of two journalists in Iraq.
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France redoubled its diplomatic efforts on Tuesday to save two French reporters held hostage in Iraq ahead of a new deadline to scrap a school headscarf ban, as the Islamic militant group Hamas called for the men&#39;s release.
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French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin today called a crisis meeting to discuss the fate of the two French journalists still held hostage in Iraq, as efforts to secure their release threatened to descend into farce.
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The French government and Muslim community in France requested the release of two French journalists being held hostage in Iraq. Al-Jazeera TV broadcast video of the hostages and disclosed the names of the