Iraq Sunni Cleric Warns Killing Of French Newsmen Would "benefit Occupier"

DOHA, Aug 30 (AFP) - A member of Iraq's main Sunni Muslim organization warned on Monday that the killing of two French journalists by their Islamist captors would only benefit "the occupying enemy."
"Who will benefit if, God forbid, these two hostages are executed?" asked Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abdul Jabbar from the Committee of Muslim Ulema, on Al-Jazeera television.
Abdul Jabbar, who had earlier called for the release of Radio France Internationale correspondent Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper, noted that "the whole world" had urged the captors from the Islamic Army of Iraq to free the newsmen.
"If they are executed, only the occupying enemy will benefit by creating a breach between France and Iraq," he said in a reference to the United States.
The journalists' killing would "turn France from a friendly country into an enemy of Iraq."
A 48-hour deadline set by the kidnappers passed Monday evening with no immediate news of the journalists' plight.
The kidnappers issued late Saturday the ultimatum, carried by Al-Jazeera, for France to revoke a controversial law banning the Islamic headscarf in state schools. But the government in Paris insisted Monday it would not change the legislation.
The same group executed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni after holding him captive for a week with a demand for Rome to pull out its troops.