RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 29 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat issued an urgent call for the immediate release of two French journalists who were taken hostage in Iraq last week, a statement released by his office said late Sunday.
"In the name of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership, I urgently call for the release of the French journalists, that their lives may be saved and they be released as soon as possible," Arafat said in an appeal to the group responsible for the kidnapping, the Islamic Army in Iraq.
"These journalists are helping the Iraqi cause and the Palestinian cause," he said.
"We want guarantees for our friends who stand behind our fight."
Radio France correspondent Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper went missing in Iraq on August 20.
Late Saturday, the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and demanded that Paris rescind a ban on the wearing of headscarves in state schools within 48 hours, or by late Monday.
The group is the same that kidnapped and later killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni.
French President Jacques Chirac said Sunday he would immediately dispatch his foreign minister to the Middle East to help negotiate the release of the two journalists.