Kidnappers of two French journalists issue new deadline

Reporters Without Borders today urged the Arabic news media, which have already been making unprecedented appeals for the release of kidnapped French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, to publish the exact details of France's law on the Islamic veil again. "The abductors must be given precise information about the content of this law," the organisation said. "If it could help obtain the journalists' release, it could be useful that the main TV and radio stations broadcasting in Iraq and in the Arab world remind people that the only ban on the Islamic veil in France is in state owned schools." At the same time, Reporters Without Borders called on political and religious leaders and journalists in France and elsewhere in the world to renew appeals for the release of Chesnot and Malbrunot, and their driver Mohammed al-Joundi, of whom there is still no word. "The footage screened by Al-Jazeera shows the two journalists in good health, which is very good news, but the new 24-hour deadline set by their abductors and the message delivered by the journalists are very worrying," the press freedom group said. "We must remain on alert," Reporters Without Borders added. "The extension of the deadline shows that the kidnappers are not totally insensitive to the international community's appeals, so the pressure must not let up." In a video broadcast by the pan-Arab TV news station Al-Jazeera yesterday evening, the two journalists addressed a message to the French government and their fellow countrymen: "We call on the French people (…) to go out and demonstrate to demand the repeal of the veil ban law because our lives are in danger," Malbrunot said. Chesnot added: "If it is not repealed, we risk paying with our lives. It is a question of time, perhaps minutes, and then we will be killed like the others." Al-Jazeera said the hostage-takers had extended their deadline by 24 hours. In a first video broadcast by Al-Jazeera on 28 August, a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq gave France 48 hours to repeal the law banning the Islamic veil and headscarf in state schools. Malbrunot, 41, a freelance journalist working for Figaro and Ouest-France, and Chesnot, 38, a freelancer with RFI and Radio-France, were probably kidnapped on 20 August along with Al-Joundi, who has been their driver and guide for more than a year.