French President Jacques Chirac has called his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to seek aid in the release of two French hostages, said a statement issued by the Afghan Presidential Palace on Saturday.

During a telephone conversation on Thursday night, Chirac asked Karzai to cooperate in securing the release of the two French nationals, who are being held by Taliban militants, the statement said.

Karzai assured Chirac that relevant Afghan institutions would spare no efforts in securing the release of the two French and their Afghan colleagues.

Taliban rebels abducted two French nationals and their three Afghan staff, who were working for an aid organization, in Nimroz province of southern Afghanistan on April 3.

It is widely believed that the Taliban carried out the kidnapping in order to exchange the hostages for some Taliban prisoners.

However, Karzai has insisted that no Taliban members would be released to exchange for hostages held by the Taliban.

Source: Xinhua