Florence Aubenas has been released, along with her assistant, Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, after five months of captivity in Iraq. She is a reporter for the French newspaper Liberation, a name which has an echoic resemblance to Il Manifesto, the paper for which Giuliana Sgrena works.
Sgrena, who was seriously wounded by American military as she was being driven to the Baghdad airport after her release from two months in captivity, is on the record saying she believes she was targeted. The Italian intel agent who was escorting her out of the country was killed in that same event. There were hints that she felt the kidnapping itself was an attempt to silence her.
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"The head of Liberation, Serge July, spoke of a "quite complicated military operation", which had led to her handover to French secret service agents after her kidnappers led them on a chase "for 50 miles in and around Baghdad". A press conference to reveal more details will be held at the Liberation offices tomorrow.""Aubenas, 44, is said to be in good health. She flew to Cyprus where she was met by the French Foreign Minister and is now on her way to Paris. She and her Iraqi interpreter Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi were seized on January 5th.The identity of the kidnappers is unknown and it seems likely that they were acting under criminal rather than political motives, says Hugh Schofield in Paris. "
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"French officials said no ransom was paid."
