Canadian TV has hostage video of French nationals

A public Canadian television network reported late on Friday that it had obtained a video of two French nationals taken hostage in Afghanistan, in which they say they fear for their lives.

CBC did not explain how it obtained the video and decided to broadcast only still images.

According to the network, the pictures show a young woman saying in a weak voice that she was a French volunteer worker kidnapped by the Taliban 10 days ago. The images then show a man who says his name is Eric.

Both the man and the woman make appeals for saving their lives, the report said.

According to CBC, the French government has confirmed the video shows the French aid workers who have gone missing in Afghanistan.

The network said the pictures had provided the first evidence the captives were still alive.

The French aid workers, from the non-governmental organization Terre d'Enfance (A World for Our Children), went missing on April 3 in the southwestern province of Nimroz.

The Islamist Taliban militia say they are holding the pair, along with three of their Afghan colleagues.

Concerns the safety of the hostages mounted since the Taliban said on Sunday that they had beheaded an Afghan reporter whom they kidnapped with an Italian journalist a month ago in the southern province of Helmand.

Ajmal Naqshbandi was killed after Afghan President Hamid Karzai's administration failed to negotiate with the Taliban. However, Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo was freed in a hostage deal that saw five militants released from Afghan jails.

Karzai criticized both within and outside Afghanistan for his controversial deal and has said that his government will not repeat the hostage trade with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac called on Karzai to demand his support for efforts to free the French aid workers, Karzai's office said Friday.

"President Chirac during a telephone conversation last night demanded the Afghan president's support to secure the release of two French nationals," Karzai's office said in a statement.

"The president in response assured that all relevant Afghan authorities will do their utmost to secure their release," it said, without giving any further details.

The rebels have also been holding five Afghan medics since kidnapping them in southern Kandahar province on March 27. The rebels on Monday threatened to kill at least one of the doctors unless the government enters talks.