France confirms abduction of French journalist in Iraq

The French foreign ministry confirmed Tuesday evening that a French journalist from the CAPA television news agency, Alexandre Jordanov, had been kidnapped in Iraq.

Jordanov, 40, was kidnapped on Sunday 50 kilometers south to Baghdad along with his cameraman Ivan Ceriex, who was later released, said CAPA head Herve Chabalier, who unveiled the kidnapping earlier Tuesday evening.

The number of the foreign hostages held in Iraq amounted to 40 by this abduction, according to the coalition led by the United States in Iraq.

"Our two journalists, witness of an attack against a munitions convoy, got off the car to film the incident between American soldiers and a group of Iraqi fighters," says a statement releasedTuesday evening by French televisions CAPA and Canal Plus, which called for Jordanov's immediate release.

"Ivan Cerieix was seized by a Sunni Muslim armed group, and wassecretly taken to several locations. He was released at 5:00 am the following morning and brought back to Baghdad ... after finally convincing his kidnappers that he was a French journalist," the statement reads.

"We do not know if Alex Jordanov was abducted by the same groupof fighters, nor do we know the circumstances of his kidnapping," it says.

The French government on Tuesday advised its citizens in Iraq to leave the country, and French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin also called on overseas French there to come back, sayingthat the situation had developed in Iraq in a way "we feared."

About 12 French journalists work for Canal Plus in Iraq. They decided to remain in the country despite the dangers, according toCanal Plus.

Source: Xinhua