US had nothing to do with hostages - France
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Paris - The operation to secure the liberation of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq was an exclusively French concern, ministers insisted on Thursday.
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The United States is opposed to negotiations with hostage-takers who abducted three United Nations staffers in Afghanistan last month, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
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The United States has denied claims from Pyongyang that North Korea has been taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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US allies Britain and Australia on Thursday rejected a claim by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the war in Iraq was &#39;&#39;illegal&#39;&#39; because
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Afghanistan&#39;s Taliban guerrillas reiterated on Wednesday that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping of three UN workers and said they opposed the use of women as hostages for the release of prisoners.
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France on Monday vowed not to yield to Islamic militants holding two journalists hostage in Iraq, pledging to implement a ban on headscarves in state schools this week despite threats by the kidnappers.
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The French government says no ransom was paid for two hostages returning home after a four-month ordeal in Iraq.
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The U.S. military in Iraq said on   Monday that three soldiers killed by kidnappers in June do not   appear to have had any involvement in the rape and murder of a   14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family in the same area.
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Non-Iraqi prisoners captured by US forces on the Iraq battlefield are not entitled to the protections afforded by the Geneva Conventions, according to a recent legal opinion from the Justice Department.
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US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says in Kabul there should be no talks with kidnappers of three UN workers.
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Paris did not pay a ransom to secure the  release of two French journalists freed by Islamic militants in  Iraq, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told party  leaders Wednesday.
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The US denies that a female prisoner in Iraq is to be freed, as a British hostage's family awaits news of his fate.
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The United States indicated Wednesday it will not free jailed militants to secure the release of three UN election workers in Afghanistan, even as the kidnappers claimed a deal was close.
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Many questioned the intentions of the French government after 9/11. It did not support the war on terror, it was not supportive of U.S. policies at the United Nations and it didn't back the war for a free Iraq.
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France believes that two journalists held hostage in Iraq are still alive, but authorities have lost direct contact with their kidnappers, the foreign minister said Saturday.
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Dealing a blow to a U.S.-backed strategy for Lebanon, France has refused to participate in a meeting of nations that could send troops to help monitor a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, even though it may join &#151; and possibly even lead &#151; such a force.
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President Jacques Chirac has vowed to spare no effort to free two French reporters held hostage in Iraq by militants who are reportedly demanding that France overturn its law banning Islamic head scarves in schools.