<center><center>Iraq Hostage Crisis: Christian Chesnot (left) and Georges Malbrunot (right)</center>
The International Federation of Journalists today welcomed an “unprecedented wave of solidarity” among journalists around the world as Arab journalists’ groups in Iraq and in the region pressed for Iraqi militants holding two French journalists hostages to release them immediately.
The IFJ has been in contact with the Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ) based in Cairo and both organisations are pressing journalistic networks in Iraq to use their influence on militants who kidnapped Christian Chesnot, a reporter for Radio France Internationale, and Georges Malbrunot, a correspondent for the newspaper Le Figaro.
In a statement issued by the FAJ earlier today, Arab journalists called on militant groups to release all hostages and expressed their extreme concern over the dramatic escalation in violence and attacks on civilians. The FAJ condemn the policy of hostage-taking and are carrying out protests in Cairo and thoroughout the Arab world in order to secure the safe release of Malbrunot and Chesnot.
Their captors have threatened to execute them unless France lifts a ban on Muslim girls wearing traditional headscarves at state schools, which comes into effect this week.
“Colleagues in every corner of the world are horrified at this attempt to use the lives of journalists as a bargaining chip in a dispute over cultural values,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “It is an unprecedented wave of solidarity with our French colleagues. The militants who are holding them cannot succeed in their demands.”
The IFJ’s French affiliates have issued a joint statement and calls for international action to free the hostages have come from around Europe and beyond. “Journalists everywhere are shocked by this development. It has consequences not just for free expression in Iraq, but wherever journalists work in situations of conflict,” said White.
Muslim leaders in France yesterday joined political leaders in condemning the kidnapping of the journalists who were shown on a brief videotape sent to the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera. Arab journalists’ groups and media have also challenged the strategy of kidnapping unarmed civilians.
“The taking of unarmed civilians and using them like this is intolerable,” said Mahboob Ali, Vice-President of the Federation of Arab Journalists. “Everything must be done to find a way of resolving differences without resorting to this type of political terror.”
Last week the IFJ condemned the killing of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni who was kidnapped and then executed in an attempt to force the Italian government to withdraw its troops from Iraq. “We have already lost one courageous colleague,” said White. “We must have an end to this.”
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The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries
Please click here to read the statement in ARABIC