AFGHANIASTAN: Released French hostage appeals for the release of other hostages held by the Taliban

Record ID: 1535006

  • Title: AFGHANIASTAN: Released French hostage appeals for the release of other hostages held by the Taliban
  • Date: 29th April 2007
  • Summary: (W3)PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 28, 2007) ( REUTERS) EXTERIOR SHOT OF FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY. JOURNALISTS STANDING OUTSIDE FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION TERRE D'ENFANCE, ANTOINE VUILLAUME SAYING: "Celine has been released this morning. So we know that she is very tired after 24 days being captured by the Taliban and so we are waiting for her return to France as soon as possible."
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2007 16:55
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAAIG33KQYN56MK2SMMH4A3TTYS
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A French woman aid worker released by the Taliban on Saturday is appealing for the release of other hostages who are still being held by the Taliban. Hours after her release by the Taliban on Saturday (April 28), a French woman aid worker read out a statement from her captors who are demanding that France pulls out its troops from Afghanistan.
    The French woman, identified by her captors as Celine, spoke briefly to members of the media at the French embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul on Saturday after her 24 days of captivity ended.
    The woman identified as Celine read a statement she had been given by the Taliban which read: "There is propaganda in West countries that mujahideen of Islamic (indistinct) have no respect for women rights. But you have seen the mujahideen how modesty behaviour they help. Celine now we want from France to leave our country. It is our right."
    Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the woman, identified only as Celine, was freed as a gesture of goodwill in the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland.
    Asked if a ransom had been paid, Yousuf said the aid worker had been freed "because she is a woman".
    Speaking to Reuters by satellite phone from a secret location, he added the deadline for the release of her male French colleague, Eric, and three Afghan workers for the Terre d'Enfance aid group had been extended by a week.
    The woman identified as Celine made a tearful appeal for the release of fellow French aid worker, identified as Eric, and three Afghans who were held with her by the Taliban.
    France's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday one member of an aid group who had been kidnapped in Afghanistan had been released.
    The head of the Terre d'Enfance non-governmental association Antoine Vuillaume said on Saturday (April 28) that one member of an aid group which had been kidnapped in Afghanistan had been released.
    Vuillaume told reporters outside the French foreign ministry in Paris that the French hostage, whom he named as Celine, was "very tired" after being held hostage by members of the Taliban in Afghanistan since early April. He said the NGO was looking forward to her return to France.
    Earlier on Saturday the French foreign ministry confirmed the release of the hostage, saying it was the result of efforts made over a period of more than three weeks.
    Apart from the French troops withdrawal, the Taliban are also demanding the release of Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government.
    Two weeks ago the insurgents released a video tape in which the French hostages pleaded for their lives, saying they would be beheaded and their heads sent home to France.
    The five were kidnapped in southeastern Nimroz province, between Iran and Afghanistan's Helmand province.
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