Released French Hostages Arrive in Paris

PARIS — Two French journalists released by Iraqi kidnappers returned today to Paris and were embraced by political leaders and a public celebrating the end of a four-month ordeal that left mystery and tension in its wake.

Landing at Villacoublay military airport outside Paris, they were met by President Jacques Chirac, as well as family members.

Despite lingering uncertainty over how the pair’s release came about, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin insisted that France had not paid a ransom.

After a briefing from Raffarin, Senate President Christian Poncelet said: “No ransom was demanded of France for the liberation. So France did not pay any ransom in any form.”

After the two men were seized Aug. 20, the abductors threatened to kill them if France did not drop a new law banning religious symbols such as Islamic head scarves from public schools. But the French government refused, and the group had made no concrete public demands in recent months.

But the government said little about the circumstances of the release, which reportedly took place at a safe house near the Baghdad airport.

Critics also said the government will have to explain the reasons for the length of the kidnapping, which shook this nation, strained France’s relationship with Baghdad’s pro-U.S. government, and shattered illusions that the French were shielded from anti-Western violence in Iraq.

Opposition leaders said Chirac’s government should explain other murky aspects of the case. The motives and behavior of the abductors, the shadowy Islamic Army in Iraq, remain unclear.

There was renewed speculation in Paris today that Syrian intelligence services interfered with negotiations to release the hostages, most concretely during a bizarre episode in which a French legislator announced an imminent release in Damascus in October.

The Syrians may have retaliated against France for its partnership with the U.S. in condemning Syria’s role in Lebanon, French analysts say.