| A statement from a militant group in Iraq says two kidnapped French journalists have agreed to cover the "activities of the resistance", according to an official from the London-based Islamic Observatory. Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were seized along with their Syrian driver, Mohammed al-Jundi, on August 20. The Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnappings south of Baghdad. Yasser Sirri, head of the Islamic Observatory, today said he had received an email purportedly from the Islamic Army saying it had "ended the detention of the two French hostages ... who are now carrying out their work under an agreement" with the group. "The two journalists accepted, willingly and without being pressured, to cover the battles and attacks (by the resistance) and to film them for the Islamic Army for a set period," it said. The statement - read out on the telephone by Mr Sirri, whose organisation defends Muslim causes around the world - said the period would only be disclosed after their reports "on the reality of the heroic Iraqi resistance". |