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French hostages in Iraq may soon be released

France said it had received word that two French reporters held captive in Iraq were alive while one of their employers claimed the kidnappers had handed them over to an Iraqi opposition group, raising hopes that the hostages could soon be released.

Jean de Belot, managing editor of Le Figaro newspaper, said the militants who claimed to be holding the French reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, have handed them over to an Iraqi Sunni Muslim opposition group. He said the opposition group favors the release of the hostages, but he stressed the status of the two Frenchmen wasn't completely clear.

``That is an extremely positive point,'' de Belot told French radio. ``But we must be prudent in this kind of mixed-up situation because we know well that until the good news arrives, we can't let ourselves be absolutely reassured.''

In Amman, Jordan, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier also sounded cautiously optimistic.

``According to the indications which were given to us and we are studying at this moment with caution, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot are alive, in good health and are being well treated,'' he said at a news conference.

Iraq's senior Sunni Muslim scholars also said yesterday that the two reporters were out of danger and their release was "a matter of time."

"They are out of danger and, as was declared yesterday by Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, their release could just be a matter of time," said Sheikh Abdel Salam al-Kubeisi, an influential cleric on the Committee of Muslim Scholars.

The reporters were kidnapped on Aug. 20 by a radical Sunni group demanding Paris rescind a controversial ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools.

But Paris refused to bow to the kidnappers' demands and the law went into effect on Thursday.
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