French hostage found in Iraq after takers abandon car, police say
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-08 16:30

A French engineer taken hostage in Iraq last month by militants who mistakenly denounced the "illegal French presence" in the country has been found alive, Iraqi police said Sunday.

The engineer was found in a car that several men had fled from just before reaching a checkpoint in the western Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib Saturday night, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi. U.S. forces initially took custody of him, al-Mohammadawi said.
Bernard Planche, who worked for a non-governmental organization called AACCESS, was kidnapped December 5 on his way to work at a Baghdad water plant. Militants last month released a video of him sitting between two armed men.

When his captors first released a video of Planche, they denounced the "illegal French presence" in Iraq.

France's foreign minister, though, stressed in a plea for Planche's release that France has no military presence in Iraq.

During his traditional New Year's Eve address on television, French President Jacques Chirac sent a special message to Planche's family, saying officials were "fully mobilized to obtain his freedom."

Planche's daughter and brother last month had pleaded for his release in an interview on an Arab TV news channel.

"He came to help the reconstruction for the Iraqi people. We have faith and are sure that you won't hurt him," his daughter Isabelle said on Al-Arabiya.

Insurgents have kidnapped hundreds of foreigners in the past two years, aiming to force U.S.-led troops to leave Iraq or prevent Arab nations from strengthening their ties with the Baghdad government.

Some of the hostages were killed, while others were released after ransoms were paid or freed after Muslim clerics called the armed groups to release them.

On December 8, the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed to have killed U.S. electrician Ronald Schulz. Other groups are holding four Christian humanitarian workers _ two Canadians, a Briton and an American.

No news has been received about the fate of those men since a group claiming responsibility for their capture imposed a December 10 deadline for their killings. The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade had threatened to kill the group if the United States and Britain did not release all detainees in Iraq.

Briton Norman Kember, 74, Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and American Tom Fox, 54, were abducted in Baghdad on November 26. All four were working in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams, a Canadian-based organization that has investigated allegations of abuse against Iraqi prisoners.