PARIS, Sept 2 (AFP) - French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday that he was hopeful of a "happy end" to the hostage crisis involving two French journalists held in Iraq.
"I believe that we can hope for a happy end," Villepin told France 2 public television. "The indications that we have this evening are going in the right direction."
"Tomorrow is prayer day, it`s Friday, it`s a time for gathering together, for reflection," he added, hinting that they may be released on the Muslim day of prayer.
The journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, have been held since August 20 by kidnappers demanding that France repeal a controversial law banning Islamic headscarves and other "conspicuous" religious insignia from state schools.
Villepin hailed the efforts of France`s Muslim communities to push for the release of the two men, notably as a delegation from a French Muslim umbrella committee travelled to Baghdad to plead for their release.
But he remained cautious, warning that "all channels of communication are open, but the complexity of the Iraqi situation does not allow us to say more.
"More than ever, there is a responsibility on us," he added. "We must be extremely cautious as long as our two compatriots are not in our hands."
Villepin was speaking shortly after French diplomats reported that Chesnot and Malbrunot were alive and well.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Michel Barnier confirmed comments earlier to AFP by the French ambassador in Baghdad that the men were "alive, in good health and well treated."
Barnier is currently in the Jordanian capital Amman on the latest leg of a regional haul pursuing efforts to secure the men`s release.