Iraq’s senior Sunni Muslim scholars said on Friday that two French reporters held hostage for two weeks are out of danger and their release is ”a matter of time”.
”They are out of danger and, as was declared yesterday [Thursday] by Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, their release could just be a matter of time,” said Sheikh Abdel Salam al-Kubeisi, an influential cleric on the Committee of Muslim Scholars.
Reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were kidnapped on August 20 by a radical Sunni group demanding Paris rescind a controversial ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools.
French diplomats have expressed optimism the two journalists will be released soon, but they were still captive on Friday afternoon. — Sapa-AFP