French Politicians Unite Over Hostages
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The French government and opposition  declared a rare united front on Thursday in efforts to secure  the release of two French hostages held 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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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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President Jacques Chirac called for national unity on Tuesday over France's hostage crisis in Iraq, after a bid by self-appointed mediators failed to free two journalists held by Islamist militants.
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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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French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said he was still hopeful two French reporters held hostage in Iraq would be freed, adding that &quot;lines of dialogue&quot; had been opened with those detaining them.
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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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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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PARIS -- French critics and defenders of a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools united in support of the law yesterday, pledging to stand firm against militants holding two French journalists hostage in Iraq who want the law revoked.
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DAMASCUS/PARIS, 5 October 2004 - A French MP behind a failed bid to free two French reporters held hostage in Iraq defended his free lance operation yesterday amid sharp official and media criticism that he may have endangered their lives.
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The French President has called for national unity for the sake of two French hostages in Iraq, as a row broke out over a failed attempt to free them.
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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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PARIS (France): France said on Sunday that it was more than ever mobilized after two French journalists were taken hostage in Iraq by militants demanding the rescinding of a ban on the Islamic headscarf in French schools.
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The French government held crisis talks on the fate of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq Wednesday amid growing uncertainty over whether their kidnappers had demanded a ransom and two-day deadline.
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BAGHDAD, SEPTEMBER 8: The French government held crisis talks on the fate of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq on Wednesday amid growing uncertainty over whether their kidnappers had demanded a ransom and two-day deadline.
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The French Foreign Minister has called for the release of two French journalists being held hostage by Islamist kidnappers 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.