New video released of kidnapped French journalists

AFP - A new video of two French television journalists kidnapped a year ago by suspected Islamist insurgents east of Kabul has been released to authorities in France, a report said on Monday.
              
"The video has been authenticated. It was shot around mid-November," journalist and presenter Carole Gaessler said on France 3 television.
              
Foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero confirmed the date and authenticity of the video, but did not provide any further details.
              

Stephane Taponier and Herve Ghesquiere, a reporter and a cameraman for the state-owned channel, were kidnapped on December 30 last year in an area rife with anti-government insurgents.
              
In the video, Taponier talks to his family, while Ghesquiere talks to his partner, Gaessler said.
              
French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Sunday expressed hope that the two reporters would be released as soon as possible.
              
"We known that they are alive, relatively healthy, although it is clear that after a year things are starting to weigh," she said.
              
A senior French military official in September suggested that the two reporters could be rescued by Christmas, but President Nicolas Sarkozy would not confirm this.