Christian Chesnot is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 journalist working for Radio France

Radio France

Radio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...

 who, along with Georges Malbrunot

Georges Malbrunot

George Malbrunot is a French journalist working for Le Figaro who, along with Christian Chesnot and their Syrian driver Muhammed al-Jundi, was taken hostage on August 20, 2004, by the Islamic Army in Iraq. This group gave the French government a 48-hour deadline to repeal its law against girls...

 and Muhammed al-Jundi (their driver), was taken hostage on August 20, 2004, by the Islamic Army in Iraq

Islamic Army in Iraq

The Islamic Army in Iraq is one of a number of underground Baathist and Islamist militant organizations formed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States and coalition military forces, and the subsequent collapse of the Baathist government headed by Saddam Hussein.Although it...

. This group gave the French government a 48-hour deadline to repeal its law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools

French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools

The French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools bans wearing conspicuous religious symbols in French public primary and secondary schools...

. The ultimatum was delivered by means of video broadcast on the Arab TV channel Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...

 at 6.30 p.m. GMT on August 26. Both French hostages were released on the December 21, 2004. Christian Chesnot has written on the issue of water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and, more specifically, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...

.

Muhammed al-Jundi was freed by U.S. Marines in November 2004 in Fallujah

Fallujah

Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....

.

External links

• http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_articleweb/1,13-0,36-391771,0.html - From Le Monde
  Le Monde
  Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
  
  (in French)
• Chesnot released - IFEX
  International Freedom of Expression Exchange
  The International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
  
  
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4115975.stm-BBC.co.uk
  Bbc.co.uk
  BBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...