4 French journalists freed
10 months after their capture in Syria, they cross into Turkey.
paris » Tenmonths after their capture in Syria, four French journalists crossed the border into neighboring Turkey and reached freedom Saturday, though dozens more remain held in the country’s chaotic civil war.
Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, NicolasHenin and PierreTorres— all said to be in good health— were freed over theweekend in unclear circumstances in what has become the world’s most dangerous, and deadliest, conflict for journalists.
“We are very happy to be free … and it’s very nice to see the sky, to be able to walk, to be able to … speak freely,” said Francois, a noted war correspondent for Europe 1 radio, in footage recorded by the private Turkish news agency DHA. He thankedTurkish authorities for their help.
French President Francois Hollande’s office said in a statement that he felt “immense relief” at the release.
Elias, a freelance photographer, also was working for Europe 1 radio. Henin and Torres are freelance journalists.
A DHA report said soldiers on patrol found the four blindfolded and hand- cuffed inTurkey’s southeast Sanliurfa province Friday.
The four went missing in June 2013 in two incidents. Two were taken after being interrogated by extremist fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in the eastern province of Raqqa, said a Syrian activist.
It wasn’t clear whether a ransom had been paid for their release, nor which group in Syria’s chaotic conflict held the men.