fatwa issued for release of French reporters

"We issued a fatwa urging the group to immediately free and not to harm the two French reporters, in recognition of France's position on Iraq," Sheikh Mehdi al-Sumaidaie told AFP.

The cleric, an influential figure among the extremist Sunni Muslim organisations responsible for the bulk of kidnappings in Iraq lately, also lambasted the Iraqi government and US forces for staging a raid in the area where the pair was kidnapped, saying it had harmed efforts for their release.

"The attack on Latifiya disrupted the process of their release," he said.

Meanwhile, as hopes dimmed that two French journalists held captive in Iraq would be freed soon, French President Jacques Chirac was to discuss the crisis yesterday with his foreign minister, who returned from a mission to the Middle East with no news of their imminent release.

Rumours had been swirling recently in Baghdad, Amman and Paris that journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot would be freed within days, but the return to Paris late Saturday of Foreign Minister Michel Barnier suggested their release was on hold.

Barnier urged "patience" over the crisis.

"As always in these types of circumstances, you must take care in analysing the information..," he told the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. "I would be irresponsible if I made a prediction" on when they would be released.

He had been in the region since Monday and had hoped to be able to accompany the two men home.