Two French journalists appeared in a video released by Taliban militants in Afghanistan, in which they addressed French President Nicolas Sarkozy, telling him that they, along with their translator and driver, would be killed if "this interview" was not released on French TV. The two journalists, recently identified as Herve Ghesquiere and Stephane Taponnier, had been in captivity for 100 days as of last Thursday, April 8. The video has been aired on France 3 Television, with the faces of the journalists blurred out. Theirs are the only voices heard in the video, and they calmly speak in English and French, telling Sarkozy that he must "negotiate very quickly," otherwise they "will be executed very soon."
Along with the video, the Taliban released a written statement in which they submit a list of their "most ordinary detainees to the government of France for release as an exchange for the two Frenchmen and their Algerian colleague." They go on to say, "There is no other option for the release of the said detainees expect the option of detainees exchange." In the statement, the journalists are described as "miserable" and "living a life under torture and brutalities."
The French government had no comment for CNN when they released the story on April 12.
Submitted by: Katie Kregor
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