France Redoubles Diplomatic Effort to Save Hostages
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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's release.
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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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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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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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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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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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Diplomatic efforts mount as a deadline nears for two French journalists held hostage in Iraq.
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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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FRENCH President Jacques Chirac renewed his appeal here today for the release of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq. The French leader issued the appeal at a news conference following talks with Russian
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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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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 president tries to defuse a row over a failed attempt to free two journalists held in Iraq.
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French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier made an impassioned plea to try to save the lives of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq as an ultimatum issued by their kidnappers neared expiry.
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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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France last night dispatched its foreign minister, Michel Barnier, to the Middle East in an attempt to save the lives of two journalists kidnapped by Iraqi militants who have demanded that Paris revokes its ban on Islamic headscarves in schools.
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CAIRO : French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier made an impassioned plea to try to save the lives of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq as an ultimatum issued by their kidnappers neared expiry.
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PARIS, Sept 6  - The captors of two French journalists allegedly put forward Monday new demands for their release, but French officials cast doubt on the authenticity of the demands and remained cautiously optimistic about securing their release.