Chirac slams 'interference'

2004-10-02 13:53

Paris - French President Jacques Chirac has lashed out at a private initiative to secure the release of two French hostages in Iraq as "interference" and said he hoped it would not thwart the delicate process, aides said on Saturday.

As a senior envoy called for patience in efforts to free French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, the president's entourage conveyed his disapproval of a mission by a deputy from his own party to secure their release.

The lawmaker, Didier Julia, claimed late on Friday in Damascus that United States forces had torpedoed his efforts by firing on a convoy allegedly bringing them out of Iraq.

He said that an assistant had persuaded the kidnappers to release Malbrunot and Chesnot, who were abducted near Baghdad on August 20 with their Syrian driver.

'Hope it won't be negative'

Chirac's aides said he did not think Julia's initiative was a positive development and "especially hopes it will not be negative" for the reporters and their driver.

An insurgent group called the Islamic Army in Iraq is thought to be holding the hostages.

Chirac is "concerned at this interference in a delicate process," the aides said, while acknowledging that every avenue must be explored to try to secure the hostages' release.

"Today, it appears that there have been a lot of things that were mistaken or false," they added.

French officials have publicly distanced themselves from Julia's attempts, which have sown confusion over the government's long-standing diplomatic drive to free the men.

Julia, 70, is vice-president of the Iraqi-French Friendship Group and is an Arabic speaker with ties to the Middle East.

He said on Friday in Damascus that his assistant, Philippe Brett, had struck a deal for the release of the men and they were en route to the Syrian border when US forces shot at the convoy, killing Iraqi "guards" providing security.

"The three Frenchmen are still in Iraq in the hands of the resistance," he said, referring to the two journalists and Brett.

The US military in Baghdad rejected Julia's accusations. "I have not seen any reports that would indicate any of these stories showing up are accurate or true," said senior spokesperson Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic.

Help secure hostages' release

It is also where Foreign Minister Michel Barnier had set up a co-ordination centre several weeks ago to help secure the hostages' release.

French envoy Jean-Pierre Lafon, who has extensive experience dealing with hostage situations around the world, said: "It is very difficult to define the timing of things, because each situation is very different.

"There is no recipe; everything depends on the context and the terrain."

There has been growing expectation in recent days that the two journalists would be released imminently.

- AFP