Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite Groups Condemn Kidnapping of French Journalists

August 30, 2004

Source: swissinfo

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5180995

On August 30, 2004 Reuters reported, "Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim groups at the forefront of opposition to the presence of U.S.-led forces in the country have called on the kidnappers of two French journalists to release them. The groups, which have refused to take part in the U.S.-engineered postwar political system, said on Monday journalists working in Iraq should not be treated as combatants. 'France's position toward Iraq is good. But we also are against kidnapping all journalists. We call on the kidnappers to release them immediately,' said Sheikh Abdel Sattar Abdel Jabbar, a senior official in the Muslim Clerics Association... The Islamic Army in Iraq, a group whose origin and composition is unknown, said on Saturday it had kidnapped journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot and demanded that France revoke its ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools within 48 hours."