Italy, France agonise over Iraq hostage crises

An Italian envoy flew to the Middle East yesterday to urge freedom for two female Italian aid workers held in Iraq as the French government and opposition showed rare unity to appeal for the release of two Frenchmen.

With both nations agonising over the fate of the aid workers and the French journalists, politicians were frantically scrambling to call in diplomatic favours and explore all avenues to try and secure the release of their citizens.

France, which opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and has not sent troops to the country, was stunned by the kidnappings of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot on August 20, as was Italy by the seizure of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. The Rome government has refused to pull its 2,700 troops from Iraq.

Margherita Boniver, an Italian undersecretary for foreign affairs, will visit five Middle East nations seeing politicians and representatives from women's groups to build up support for the two aid workers abducted by armed men in Baghdad on Tuesday.

"The main purpose of the trip is to obtain from these people understanding and solidarity concerning the two kidnapped women and I hope this will have an impact in the local media," Boniver told Reuters before leaving for Egypt.

"I have been asked by the (Italian) government to go to these countries where we have many friends and acquaintances amongst the prominent women there," said Boniver, who will also visit Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Syria.

But Italy was clear it would not agree to the kidnappers' demand to withdraw its troops. "In the case of new blackmail demands it is clear that the government will not change direction," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. "There will be no change to our foreign policy," he told an interviewer.

At least five Italians have been kidnapped in Iraq since April. Two of them were killed by their captors.

Mr Frattini held a meeting with 18 Arab ambassadors in Italy and told reporters afterwards he had won their backing. "There was a strong and unanimous request for the immediate, unconditional release of the hostages," he said.

The kidnappings have triggered big demonstrations in Rome and Paris amid national outpourings of concern.

France, which has also sent envoys to the region and has received unprecedented diplomatic support, saw opposition leaders join in a show of solidarity with the conservative government after crisis talks with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

"Our approach gives us the feeling that a number of factors are going in the right direction but at the same time we are cautious," government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said.

The intentions of the Islamic militants who kidnapped the journalists is unclear. A purported statement from the kidnappers denied they had demanded a ransom or set a deadline and said they would announce a decision on their fate soon.

Government statements have been increasingly cautious after hopes of a quick release faded as violence surged in Iraq.

A statement posted on the Internet on Wednesday purportedly from the Islamic Army in Iraq, which is holding the men, promised a decision soon.

Al Jazeera said the kidnappers had demanded the French government scrap a ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools. But the French government rejected the demand and the ban went into force last week.