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| French journalist Florence Aubenas is welcomed
by French President Jacques Chirac upon her arrival at
Villacoublay's military airport, west of Paris. Florence Aubenas,
and her Iraqi interpreter, Hussein Hanoun, were freed 12 June 2005
after a five-month hostage ordeal in Iraq.
(AFP) |
A French journalist held hostage in Iraq for five months returned home
Sunday, looking radiant and
strong as she described months of captivity in a cellar, tied up and
blindfolded.
Florence Aubenas, a 43-year-old reporter for the
French newspaper Liberation, spent the first minutes of her homecoming
embracing her family, then spoke to reporters in a strong, firm voice and
in obvious good humor. Aubenas' Iraqi assistant was also freed.
The French journalist said she had been unbound recently and allowed to
watch French television. She was moved to see a news ticker counting off
her 140th day of captivity. "You're so happy to see that, when you're all
crouched over on the ground," she said. "That's why it was so important to
me to thank absolutely everybody here."
Aubenas looked relaxed and joked as she answered questions from
reporters. One asked, "how do you feel?"
"Much better," she responded, laughing. She provided no information
about the identity of her kidnappers and no details about her release.
President Jacques Chirac, who was among those to greet Aubenas at an
airstrip in Villacoublay, west of Paris, where her plane landed, also gave
no details.
Former Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who worked on the case until
leaving the government this month, said France paid no ransom , and Defense Minister Michele
Alliot-Marie thanked officials in the DGSE spy agency.
In Baghdad, Aubenas' Iraqi assistant Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi received a
hero's welcome - hugs and kisses from more than 60 relatives and friends.
A band of trumpets played Arab tunes and a sheep was slaughtered to
celebrate his homecoming.
A few hundred supporters celebrated Sunday night at Place de la
Republique square in eastern Paris by taking down giant photos of the two
captives that had hung there to mobilize support.
Aubenas and her assistant had been missing since Jan. 5 and were last
seen leaving her hotel in the Iraqi capital. French officials have never
identified the kidnappers, though authorities in both France and Iraq
suggested they were probably seeking money rather than pressing a
political agenda.
Each day, Liberation and many other media printed a count of how many
days Aubenas and her guide had been captive.
The first and last public sign that Aubenas was alive came in a
videotape - apparently recorded by her captors - that emerged on March 1.
She looked pale and pleaded for help.
Many questions remained about her time in captivity. Three Romanian
journalists who were held in Iraq for nearly two months said they were
kept for 51 days in a cellar alongside Aubenas.
The Romanians were freed May 22 by a group that identified itself as
Maadh Bin Jabal. But asked whether she was held with the Romanians at one
point, Aubenas responded "no" and did not elaborate.
Liberation's editorial director Antoine de Gaudemar said he could not
explain the discrepancy .
Officials "will have to put all the elements together and examine
them," he said. Aubenas was expected to explain more at a news conference
Tuesday.
Sorin Miscoci, one of the Romanians, told The Associated Press that the
Romanian ex-hostages had discussed Aubenas comments Sunday among
themselves, and, "We think she is trying to protect us because she doesn't
know that we are free. Maybe she thinks we have been sold to some other
group."
"When you are in there, you don't know what's happening in the outside
world," he said.
De Gaudemar said the journalist apparently suffered no ill treatment or
harassment in captivity. She is spending time out of the spotlight with
her family, he said.
Jacqueline Aubenas, the reporter's mother, told France Info radio, "I
thought I knew what the word happiness meant.
"That was nothing," she said. "It's much better than I
thought."
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2005-06-13 09:44
