Dozens Of Syrian Journalists Hold Solidarity Sit-in At French Embass

DAMASCUS, Sept 1 (AFP) - Dozens of Syrian journalists staged a sit-in outside the French embassy here Wednesday in solidarity with two French newsmen being held by kidnappers in Iraq.
The demonstrators, employed by both Western and Arab media, held a vigil for an hour and presented to an embassy official a petition in which they called for the release of Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot.
The two Frenchmen, who went missing August 20, are being held by a Sunni militant group calling itself the Islamic Army of Iraq, which is demanding that France rescind a law banning the Islamic headscarf in state schools.
The kidnappers extended until Tuesday night a deadline for their demand to be met, and there has been no news of the pair since then.
Syria has not officially reacted to the kidnapping, which has been widely condemned around the world.