France welcomes Italians' release in Iraq, highlights French journalists' plight

PARIS, Sept 28 (AFP) - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarain hailed the release Tuesday of two Italian aid workers taken hostage in Iraq and said he hoped two French journalists who remain in insurgents' hands there would also be freed.
"I hope that the abductors of our two compatriots in Iraq hear the voice of France -- a voice of peace, of sovereignty of all people, of respect for religion and the convictions of all," he told a meeting of parliamentary deputies from his ruling conservative party.
Le Figaro reporter Georges Malbrunot, Radio France correspondent Christian Chesnot and their Syrian driver and interpreter, Mohammed al-Jundi, have been held since August 20 by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq.