Estonian hostages free in Lebanon

14 July 2011 Last updated at 11:13 GMT The Estonian cyclists appeared in three videos, published by their captors Seven Estonians have been freed in Lebanon, after being kidnapped nearly four months ago.

They were released in the town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa valley, the Estonian foreign ministry said.

"We have taken the freed compatriots to the French embassy in Beirut. Their health condition is good," said the ministry in a statement.

The group were tourists who were seized by gunmen in Bekaa after entering the country from Syria on a bicycle tour.

"The main thing now is for our seven fellow countrymen to get home to their families and loved ones as quickly as possible," said the Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet.

Mr Paet is expected to fly to Lebanon and escort his freed compatriots on their flight home.

Since Estonia lacks diplomatic representation in Lebanon, the cyclists were taken initially to the French embassy in the capital, Beirut. French diplomats were active in seeking their release.

"Our sole priority right now is to ensure they arrive at the embassy safe and sound, and then we will hear whatever details they have," said the Lebanese Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel.

The Bekaa valley is notorious for its lawlessness.

A previously unknown group called Haraket Al-Nahda Wal-Islah, or Movement for Renewal and Reform, claimed to have carried out the kidnap, and demanded a ransom.

The touring cyclists had crossed from Syria into the lawless Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon

The kidnappers released three videos showing the hostages. The videos did not make political demands.

It is not been made public whether a ransom was eventually paid to secure the release of the cyclists.

During their investigations, the Lebanese authorities have arrested a number of suspects, including known Islamists. But most of the detainees have been released for lack of evidence.

Kidnapping of Westerners was once relatively common, but has become much rarer since the end of the civil war in 1990.

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'Swap deal' for French hostages

30 June 2011 Last updated at 22:55 GMT Herve Ghesquiere (R) and Stephane Taponier received a warm welcome back in France

One of two French hostages freed by the Taliban in Afghanistan says he believes there was an exchange deal involving money and prisoners.

Herve Ghesquiere, a TV reporter, told the BBC he had no proof of this, but said he and cameraman Stephane Taponier had not been released after 18 months in captivity "for chocolates".

The Taliban have also said several of their members were freed from prison.

But the Afghan government has denied any prisoner exchange took place.

The French government insisted no ransom was paid for its citizens.

Mr Ghesquiere and Mr Taponier were kidnapped with interpreter Reza Din in Kapisa province in December 2009. All three were released on Wednesday.

'Isolated'

The French authorities have remained silent about what triggered their release after lengthy negotiations, but Mr Ghesquiere said the Taliban had been promised "money and at least two prisoners".

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France was forced to accept the conditions put forward by the Islamic Emirate”

End Quote Zabiullah Mujahid Taliban spokesman "I don't have any proof. Officially, there was no ransom. But of course, it was not for chocolates," he told the BBC World Service.

He said their captors did not say why they were being held, but that it "was clear in the beginning" that they wanted to exchange them.

"The negotiations were very long," he explained. "You have many Taliban commanders, many different small power brokers in the region.

"We were in Kapisa - the French army sector - and it was very difficult for the French secret services to negotiate. I am sure, because we are alive... that they did great, great work, but it was very, very long.

"After 15 June, we felt something [was going to happen]. We moved a lot - before then we stayed in the same house. We talked to the Taliban and they said: 'Yes, something is going on.' We were very optimistic."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that the French government had tried to get the journalists released "through the use of force... but their efforts proved futile and the enemy was forced to retreat suffering heavy casualties".

"Finally, France was forced to accept the conditions put forward by the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban] and agreed to an exchange in return for the release of a number of mujahideen leaders."

Mr Ghesquiere also described the ordeal that saw him become one of the longest-held Western hostages in Afghanistan.

"We were captured at the very end of December 2009. We were together for three-and-a-half months. Then we were separated. I was completely alone for eight months - between mid-April and mid-December last year.

"It was complicated to be so isolated, confined in a room only 12 sq metres [130 square feet]."

He said he listened to the BBC World Service "almost every day", and that it had been his "only link between our room and the external world".

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Freed hostages return to France

30 June 2011 Last updated at 08:46 GMT The two men were greeted by a warm welcome when they arrived

Two French journalists held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for 18 months have arrived in France, flying into an airport near Paris.

Cameraman Stephane Taponier and reporter Herve Ghesquiere were freed in circumstances that remain unclear.

The pair were kidnapped with Afghan colleagues near Kabul in December 2009 while on assignment for French TV.

Mr Ghesquiere said they were both in good health. "We were never threatened with death, never beaten," he said.

The two Frenchmen, who were working for French state television network France-3, had become some of the longest-held Western hostages in Afghanistan.

"There are lots of hostages in the world, I feel for those who are held hostage, and those who died in operations when they tried to save them," the forty-seven-year-old added.

"Until you have been a hostage, you can't understand but I really feel for them because it is over for us but still going for them."

'No regrets'

The pair, who had been embedded with French troops in Afghanistan, decided to gather material from an area known locally as "the Black Hole", according to the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.

In April 2010, after posting a video of the hostages on the internet, the Taliban said they had submitted a list of prisoners to French authorities that they wanted freed in exchange for the two journalists.

Mr Taponier, 46, and Mr Ghesquiere and one of the three Afghan colleagues with whom they were seized, interpreter Reza Din, were released on Wednesday. French officials have said that no ransom was paid for the men.

The other two Afghan translators had been released some time ago, French officials said.

After stepping on to the tarmac, the two embraced waiting relatives and shook hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife.

Mr Ghesquiere, who was held in solitary confinement for the last eight months, said he did not regret his decision to work in Afghanistan.

"It's what I always wanted to do. I don't want to go back to Afghanistan tomorrow but [...] I want to do this job now more than ever."

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