Ah, the French. Why do they, as a nation, make it so easy to question their fortitude?
France, which denied it paid a ransom to win the release of French journalist held in Iraq, refused Monday to give any details that led to winning freedom for the reporter and her Iraqi guide after five months of captivity.
Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, who were freed Sunday, had been missing since Jan. 5, when they were seen leaving Aubenas’ hotel in Baghdad. French officials have never identified the kidnappers, although authorities in both France and Iraq suggested they were probably seeking money rather than pressing a political agenda.
Despite mounting calls for the government to explain how the releases were achieved, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy refused to identify the captors, because he said they are still holding other people.
“I can say absolutely nothing about that,” Douste-Blazy said on RTL radio. “There are still some hostages in the place of detention where Florence and Hussein were a few hours ago.”
Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said France paid no ransom.
“There was absolutely no request for money,” Cope said on Europe-1 radio. “No ransom was paid.”
Former Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who worked the case until leaving the government this month, also said there was no ransom.
But questions persisted.
“Now the time of joy is over, the time for explanations has come,” said Annick Lepetit, a spokeswoman for the main opposition Socialist Party. “The public authorities, the president, the government must explain themselves.”
If there are legitimate questions, they deserve to be answered. Note I said if. There is nothing in this article, other than a lack of forthcoming, that suggests the French government would acquiesce to a foe. There is, however, history.
The article does go on to allow Aubenas to be praised to a silly degree.
Liberation director Serge July, in an editorial Monday, called the captors “professionals in kidnapping, who hold an important – if not central – role in the atrocious market for hostages” in Iraq. He did not elaborate.
July, a Liberation co-founder who shuttled to and from the Middle East during the hostage crisis, joined many others in praising Aubenas’ tenacity.
Aubenas, 44, is “an incredible fighter, with a considerable psychological resistance, who in many ways simply didn’t crack,” he said on France-Inter radio.
The kidnappers had their biggest prize since the lying Sgrena. Just how the hell was Aubenas, a career-long reporter for France’s “leading left-wing tabloid,” going to crack? By promising to write a story denouncing American efforts … again?!!