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| Europe |
| France responds to hostage crisis |
| 2004-08-29 |
| French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is heading to the Middle East to co-ordinate efforts to secure the release of two journalists being held in Iraq. The move was announced by President Jacques Chirac after senior French politicians held emergency meetings to discuss their response to the crisis. Arabic TV station al-Jazeera broadcast film of the two Frenchmen on Saturday. It said the group holding them was demanding that France drop its ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools. The BBC's Angus Roxburgh in Paris says the French government is unlikely to accede to the demand. He adds that there is consternation in France that its citizens have been targeted by Iraqi militants, as the country has been a vocal opponent of the US-led war in Iraq. Mr Chirac said Mr Barnier would "leave immediately for the region to develop the necessary contacts there and co-ordinate the efforts of our representatives on the scene". The French president called for the release of Radio France Internationale correspondent Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper. "Everything's been done and everything will be done in the hours and days to come to make sure that happens," he added. The two journalists disappeared nine days ago. They were reported to have been heading from Baghdad to Najaf. Al-Jazeera reported that it had received footage saying a group calling itself "The Islamic Army in Iraq" - the same group which reportedly killed kidnapped Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni last week - is holding them. The TV station said the group described the French law banning religious apparel in public schools as "an attack on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms". It said the kidnappers wanted France to reverse the ban within 48 hours. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #9 Arroyo of the Philippines should watch this carefully. This is her future -- It has already started... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-08-29 10:20:21 PM |
| #8 The case I recall from first hearing about it on Michael Savage's show was different from the Florida driver's license case. In fact, tje federal Justice department would not have been able to get into that case because issuing licenses is a state responsibility. This case involved a Muslim girl attending a public school in Oklahoma, and it annoyed me that the feds would even stick their noses into this case, much less take the pro-headscarf side. Read this and weep about how your tax dollars were mispent. http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/30/us.school.headscarves/index.html "U.S. to defend Muslim girl wearing scarf in school: Federal position will oppose Oklahoma school district policy" March 31, 2004 ...The Justice Department announced Tuesday the government's civil rights lawyers have jumped into a legal case to support a Muslim girl's right to wear a head scarf in a public school. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Alex Acosta said government lawyers would support 11-year-old Nashala Hearn, a sixth-grade student who has sued the Muskogee, Oklahoma, Public School District for ordering her to remove her head scarf, or hijab, because it violated the dress code of the Benjamin Franklin Science Academy, which she attended. The girl continued to wear her hijab to school and was subsequently suspended twice for doing so. The family appealed the suspensions, which were upheld by a district administrative hearing committee. Her parents filed suit against the Muskogee School District last October. On Tuesday the federal government filed a motion in a federal court in Muskogee to intervene in support of Nashala's position. "No student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of a public education," Acosta said in a statement accompanying the government's court filing. The Council on American-Islamic Relations -- which has often been critical of the Bush administration's policies -- praised the government's support in the case... |
| Posted by: rex 2004-08-29 9:25:06 PM |
| #7 rex.Think there was a case of a muslim woman in Florida refusing to uncover her face for a drivers license photo.Believe she lost. |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2004-08-29 9:00:51 PM |
| #6 What? The north men are attacking Paris even though we paid them all that tribute? You'd think that the French would learn after 500 years of appeasment never working. |
| Posted by: The anti-frog 2004-08-29 8:39:53 PM |
| #5 French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is heading to the Middle East to co-ordinate efforts to secure the release of two journalists being held in Iraq. What's the matter, guys? Don't believe in your principles enough to be willing to take a clear stand on them? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-29 8:32:36 PM |
| #4 "the wages of weaseling" In this particular instance, I don't think that's true. Here's the reason for the kidnapping: The TV station said the group described the French law banning religious apparel in public schools as "an attack on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms". It said the kidnappers wanted France to reverse the ban within 48 hours. Actually Chirac's government has taken a bold stand with the headscarf ban to keep the country officially secular. Shortly after his government announced the legislation, as I recall Chirac was receiving death threats from Iranians. The Muslim community in France has been outraged, but Chirac has been steadfast. Our own government has done the opposite. Not too long ago, Ashcroft's Justice Dept. fought on behalf of a Muslim girl to allow her the right to wear the headscarf/burka thingie to a taxpayer-supported public school. Go figure. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-08-29 8:22:40 PM |
| #3 You act like total spineless wimps in the face of terrorism and genocide and wonder why the people responsible for it then push you around and attack your citizens? There is a river in Egypt it called d' Nile. Dominique de Villepin the suckboy for islamo-facisim gets on his knees again. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-08-29 7:59:11 PM |
| #2 It's just another challenge for the genius that is superior French diplomacy and nuanced realpolitik. Those poor journos haven't got a chance. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-29 7:57:39 PM |
| #1 "...there is consternation in France that its citizens have been targeted by Iraqi militants, as the country has been a vocal opponent of the US-led war in Iraq." Them's the wages of weaseling. Life's a bitch, ain't it? |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-08-29 7:47:21 PM |