Journalists freed after 18 months

TWO television journalists held hostage in Afghanistan for a year and a half have been freed and are on their way back to Paris.

Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier were filming a report for France 3 when they were kidnapped 60km from Kabul in December 2009.

Prime minister François Fillon told MPs yesterday that the pair were in "good health".

They are due to land at Villacoublay airfield, near Paris, this morning. Their translator, Reza Din, has also been freed.

Vigils were planned around France today to mark 18 months since the reporters disappeared.

It was the longest kidnapping of French journalists since the Lebanon in the 1980s.

The French government has been close to securing their release on several occasions but negotiations broke down.

In a statement, President Sarkozy thanked "everyone who took part in freeing the hostages".

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