Hon. Falah al-Naqib
Interior Minister
Iraqi Interim Government
c/o Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1801 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Fax: (202) 462-5066
Your Excellency:
We know you share our concern for our colleagues, French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, kidnapped with their driver while en route to cover the fighting in Najaf. We trust you are doing all in your power to secure their freedom and to send a strong signal of concern for the necessity
of journalists to the new Iraq.
Chesnot reports for Radio France-Internationale and Radio France. Malbrunot is attached to the French dailies, Le Figaro and Ouest France. They have not been heard from since August 19th, when they left for Najaf with their driver, Mohammed al-Joundi. They are thought to be captives of a group calling itself the Islamic Army. According to a videotape shown on Al-Jazeera, their captors hope to use the two hostages to pressure France to rescind its law banning the wearing of conspicuous religious attire — notably Muslim headscarves — in French public schools. The latest communiqué from the Islamic Army this morning set
a 24-hour deadline for compliance.
We are heartened by the chorus of condemnation for hostage taking from across the political and religious spectrums of the Arab world including Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, Arab League head, Amr Musa, Lebanese cleric, Mohammed Husayn Fadlallah, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, Hamas and an assortment of news outlets and politicians.
Covering war is an inherently dangerous business, but we agree with our colleagues at Human Rights Watch who noted only yesterday that “taking hostages for purposes of political extortion, or any other purpose, constitutes the most serious kind of crime.” So far in 2004, at least 14 journalists have been abducted in Iraq. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since the U.S. invasion in March, 2003, at least 32 journalists and 11 media workers have been killed in action in Iraq by Iraqi forces,
armed groups and American troops.
We urge you to do everything you can, Your Excellency, to win the release of Mohammed al-Joundi, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. Your actions will send a strong signal that the freedom of journalists to do their job will be a foundation stone of a reborn Iraq.
Respectfully yours,
Kevin McDermott Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee
cc: Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
U.S. Secretary of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301
Fax: (703) 697-8339
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres
Communications Minister
Hôtel de Matignon
57, rue Varenne
75700 Paris
France
Fax: (011.33.1) 45 44 15 72
Jean-David Levitte
Ambassador of France to the U.S.A.
Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Fax: (202) 944-6072 or 6166
Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations
245 East 47th Street, 44th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax: (212) 421-6889 or 355 2763
Ambassador Said al-Janabi
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq
to the United Nations
14 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
Fax: (212) 772-1794
Charles Lambroschini
Deputy Editor
Le Figaro
37 rue du Louvre
75002 Paris
France