A French journalist, Florence Aubenas, and her Iraqi interpreter have been freed in Iraq after a five-month hostage ordeal, officials in Paris said yesterday, setting off a wave of relief in France -- but also raising questions as to whether a ransom was paid.
Aubenas and the interpreter, Hussein Hanun, were "in good health," President Jacques Chirac said in a televised address.
"On behalf of everyone, I want to express to Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanun our happiness and that of the entire nation to know that they are free and will soon be returning to us," he said.
PHOTO: AFP
After a brief stopover in Cyprus, Aubenas headed home to Paris, where she was expected late yesterday, on a government jet accompanied by French Foreign Minister Phillippe Douste-Blazy. Hanun returned to his family in Baghdad.
Chirac paid homage to an "exceptional" public campaign in France and elsewhere that had pressed for the pair's release, as well as to Aubenas' family and to the French intelligence and military services deployed in Iraq.
The left-wing Paris newspaper Liberation for which Aubenas worked said the two were freed Saturday.
"We are completely swept away with joy at Liberation. It's a huge relief after five months of nightmare," managing editor Antoine de Gaudemar said.
No details about the circumstances of the release were given, and authorities did not identify the hostage-takers.
The last time the French public had seen Aubenas was March 1, when a video was released of her looking gaunt and desperate and pleading for help.
Aubenas' mother, Jacqueline, said "we're so happy" at the news and added that Chirac had telephoned her Saturday to give her the news but asked that the family keep it quiet.
"Florence is a very strong person. Certainly she must be affected by her detention, but Florence will become Florence very quickly. I have total confidence in my daughter," she told LCI Television.
France's politicians and media joined in the chorus of expressions of happiness and relief at the news.
The European Commission, in a statement, also welcomed the release, and called on "the different groups in Iraq to free all remaining hostages in captivity and pursue their goals through the political process and not through violence and intimidation."
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS