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Two French journalists released on bail in Niger

"We're happy to be free. We thank all those who helped us -- in Paris and here -- and the journalistic community ... It's important for us to be able to see our families again."

Pierre Creisson, French journalist

Two French journalists who face a possible death sentence for interviewing Tuareg rebels in the southern Sahara have been released on bail and are expected to leave Niger for Paris during the night, their lawyer said on Friday.

"This is it -- they're free. They're going to take a flight for Paris at 2am," and are expected to arrive at 2:55pm, defense lawyer Moussa Coulibaly said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris he was "pleased with the decision by the Niger judiciary which today led to the release of Thomas Dandois and Pierre Creisson, who have arrived at the French embassy in Niamey."

"They're expected back in France tomorrow [Saturday]," he added in a statement.

Creisson and Dandois -- on assignment for Franco-German TV channel Arte -- were arrested on Dec. 17 on charges of "undermining the security of the state," which in Niger carries a possible death penalty.

"We're happy to be free. We thank all those who helped us -- in Paris and here -- and the journalistic community ... It's important for us to be able to see our families again," Creisson told journalists after leaving prison.

"Everything went well. We're very happy to be free again," Dandois said.

"I'm as happy as my clients are," Coulibaly said, adding that he was particularly happy to see that his country's legal system had applied "the law and nothing but the law."

According to the media rights group Reporters Without Borders, the bail set for each of the men was 10 million CFA francs (US$22,125).

The men's lawyers said family and friends had raised the money earlier in the day after the men's request for bail was granted by an investigating judge in Niamey.

Another member of the defense team, William Bourdon, had earlier said in Paris that the case was continuing and that the team of lawyers would try "to have it dismissed for lack of evidence."

While Creisson and Dandois had obtained permission to film in central and southern Niger for a report on bird flu, they also traveled north to interview Tuareg rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ), the Niger authorities have said.

The journalists, and Arte, have acknowledged that seeing the rebels was a breach of media restrictions in the west African country.

The government in Niger dismisses the Tuareg fighters of the southern Sahara as bandits and accuses them of links with drug traffickers.

Two other journalists, Niger nationals, have been detained for the past few months over alleged links with the Tuareg rebels.

Moussa Kaka, who works for Radio France Internationale and who also faces the death sentence, has been held since September last year. The case against him rests solely on telephone interviews with MNJ leaders held to be "complicity to undermine the security of the state."

Niger's Court of Appeal announced on Tuesday that it will rule on Feb. 12 on "the legal or illegal nature" of these taped phone calls and whether they can be admitted as evidence.

Ibrahim Manzo, manager of the fortnightly Air-Info, has meanwhile been held since October last year for "criminal association" for suspected links with the rebels.

Local human rights groups argued for the "unconditional release" of all four journalists on the grounds that detaining them for doing their job "undermines the international image of Niger."

The MNJ wants Tuaregs -- traditionally a nomadic Berber people -- to be included in Niger's army and paramilitary corps and to benefit from the mining sector.

It has claimed numerous attacks on military targets in the Agadez region where Niger's uranium mines are situated.
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