Afghanistan
France 3 hostages held by Taliban face death if demands not metPosted Apr 16 2010
The Afghan Taliban released a video April 12 demanding the release of prisoners in return for the liberation of two journalists from France 3 television. The journalists said in the video they would be killed if conditions were not met.
The video shows one of the two journalists reading aloud in English: “This message is the last message for the French government and my TV: France 3. After three months to be prisoner, the Taliban want absolutely that their (will) has to be accepted by French officials.”
He continued: “The French president, Mr. Nicholas Sarkozy, must understand that we are now in danger of death. I repeat, the French president must negotiate very quickly, otherwise we will be executed soon.”
This is the first time the journalist’s names, Stephane Taponnier and Herve Ghesquiere, and photographs have been released since their kidnapping in the Kapisa province along with their driver and translator in December. The French Foreign Ministry is currently taking steps to recover the journalists, but they have been vague about their activities in the interest of security.
The video, released on the Taliban Web site alemarah.info, included a list of detainees who are to be let go by the Afghan government in exchange for the journalists, according to Reuters.
Foreign journalists are being targeted more frequently in the rural regions of Afghanistan and other countries in the general region, IPI reports. In April, two British journalists were kidnapped on the way back from an interview with Taliban representatives in Pakistan.