As outrage erupts over the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq, Dina Ezzat finds Muslims in the frontline of demonstrations in support of the hostages "I feel so embarrassed. I really do. I cannot look my French co-workers in the eye. I somehow feel that I did something wrong. I know that a French citizen of Algerian origin told me that he felt he had to apologise for this horrible thing that is happening in Iraq in the name of Islam." These were the words of an Egyptian living in Paris. The 55-year old engineer who has been living in France for over 15 years with his family says that the past few years have witnessed several incidents where relations between Muslims -- and especially Arabs -- in France and the rest of the community reached points of unbearable tension, especially when the French government and parliament passed a law banning the veil in government-run schools. The worst moment, however, came last Friday when an Iraqi militant group declared it had kidnapped two French journalists, threatening to kill them if the French government refused to repeal the ban on the veil. The so-called Islamic Army in Iraq kidnapped Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, airing their desperate appeals to French President Jacques Chirac to spare their lives by meeting the demands of their kidnappers. "I call on President Chirac to ... retract the veil ban immediately and I call on French people to protest the veil ban," said Chesnot, 37, of Radio France Internationale. "It is a wrong and unjust law and we may die at any time," said Malbrunot, 41, who writes for Le Figaro and Ouest France. The kidnapping came as a significant shock to the French government. All the more in that it has strongly opposed the US occupation of Iraq and has been calling for the full restoration of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Chirac, who promised to exert every possible effort, sent Foreign Minister Michel Barnier on an urgent Middle East tour to seek the assistance of Arab officials in securing the release of the two French citizens. During his tour, Barnier was promised unconditional help from Arab interlocutors. Speaking in Cairo following talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Barnier stressed that the two journalists were kidnapped as they were explaining to the world the "difficult conditions" the Iraqi people are suffering. Referring to his country's opposition to the occupation in Iraq and its support of the Palestinian Authority in the face of Israeli aggression, Barnier stressed that his country "champions justice and dignity for all people". On the issue of the veil, Barnier stressed that France "ensures the protection of all religions with the framework of our law, which is the same for all". He emphasised that France has always opposed the vision of a clash between the West and Islam. Not a word was mentioned by Arab officials who met with Barnier in relation to the constraints imposed by the French government on wearing the veil in government-run schools, Arab diplomats told Al-Ahram Weekly. Actually, Arab officials offered strong public support to the appeal made by France's chief diplomat for the kidnappers to release the journalists. They also said that they were contacting all relevant figures and groups in Iraq with the aim of securing the release of the hostages. Officials in the Arab League, in Cairo, Damascus, Amman, Beirut and Qatar have been working their phones to secure the safety and release of the two French citizens. They say that their efforts are not only undertaken for "a good European friend" but are made in order also to spare the image of Arabs and Muslims from further damage. One Palestinian diplomat told the Weekly that the kidnapping of the journalists could not have come at a worse time. "This story has completely overshadowed the story of the honourable hunger strike of our detainees in Israeli jails at a time when we wanted to secure maximum international support and attention to those heroes," he said. "It was only a few weeks ago that Barnier defied the Israeli government by meeting with President Yasser Arafat ... We are alienating our friends and we are helping those groups in France that tarnish the image of Arabs and Muslims," he added. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, joined a chorus of groups including French Muslims opposed to the headscarf ban, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and aides to anti-US cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, in urging the immediate release of the journalists. Leading figure in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Mohamed Henedi, appealed for the release of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. "We assert that these are friends of the Palestinian people and that they have visited occupied Palestine more than once." "Those journalists are helping the Iraqi cause and the Palestinian cause ... We want guarantees for our friends who stand behind our fight," President Arafat said. Other Muslim clergy and Arab officials and syndicates have been forthright in their condemnation of the attack and their call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood issued a communiqué denouncing the kidnapping and calling for the release of the two French journalists. "Working to change a certain law cannot be done this way, especially that these two French journalists have nothing to do with the law in question," the communiqué read. Prominent Lebanese cleric Hussein Fadlallah stressed that the issue of the veil cannot be dealt with through kidnapping French journalists. "We refuse the link between the issue of the veil and he kidnapping of these journalists," he said. Other Islamic groups and professional syndicates in many Arab capitals issued similar statements. Arab commentators were equally explicit in their rejection of the kidnapping of the French journalists and in their warnings of the unfavorable impact on the image of Arabs and Muslims that would surely follow were the journalists to be harmed. Condemnation of the kidnapping of the Frenchmen and appeals for their release were also issued by Europe-based Islamic centres. The close to five million Muslims in France are perhaps the group worst hit by this kidnapping incident. The cartoon of the London-based daily Al- Hayat of yesterday was perhaps the most telling of the grave consequences to be sustained by Muslims in France as a result of this hijacking. "Two French journalists and five million French Muslims are hijacked," read the cartoon. "As if we did not have enough to worry about with the propaganda of the anti-Arab and pro- Israel circles in France. Now we all stand accused of terrorism all over again," said the Paris-based Egyptian engineer. French Muslims, including those of Arab origin have been sparing no effort to demonstrate their full condemnation of this kidnapping and their opposition to attempts to retract veil related laws through violence or the threat of violence. Muslims have been demonstrating tirelessly in Paris throughout the week to express their support for the two French journalists. The strong presence of veiled women and bearded men was an unmistakable sign that devout Muslims are equally horrified by what has happened. Paris's central mosque acted as a base for Muslim demonstrations in support of the kidnapped journalists. French officials, including the mayor of Paris and the French minister of interior, visited the mosque to stress the sense of unity felt in France and to join their "French Muslim citizens" in calling for the release of the hostages. Dalil Boubakeur, the head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), which represents the Muslim community, said it was ready to send representatives to Baghdad to take part in negotiations to secure the release of the hostages. "France ... defended [Iraq's] freedom and its sovereignty in front of the whole world. France respects the Muslims of Iraq and the Iraqis, and it does not in any way interfere in the internal affairs of this country," Boubakeur said. As the Weekly went to print, Arab diplomats said that negotiations were under way to extend a Wednesday midnight ultimatum set by the kidnappers to kill the journalists if France does not repeal its law banning the veil from government schools. "I think we have been successful in conveying a message of patience to the kidnappers," said one Arab diplomat. Syria, Jordan and the Arab League were said to be particularly active in their contacts with Iraqi groups to secure the safety and release of Chesnot and Malbrunot. Conflicting estimates of the success or failure of the release mission were being reported up until yesterday afternoon.
