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Kidnapped French journalists found on Turkey's Syrian border-media

by Reuters
Saturday, 19 April 2014 09:37 GMT

* Freed journalists in good health - Hollande

* Found blindfolded and bound on Turkish-Syrian border

* To be handed over to French officials after medical checks (Updates throughout)

ISTANBUL, April 19 (Reuters) - Four French journalists held hostage in Syria since June were found by Turkish soldiers on its border with Syria on Saturday, Turkish media reported, and French President Francois Hollande said the four were in good health.

Nicolas Henin, Pierre Torres, Edouard Elias and Didier Francois were found in Sanliurfa province blindfolded with their hands bound, Dogan News Agency said.

Hollande said the four were in "good health, in spite of the very gruelling conditions of their captivity." They will be taken to France in the coming hours, he said in a statement.

Dogan said the journalists had been kidnapped by the rebel group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but that an unknown group brought the journalists to the Turkish border on Friday night. They would be handed over to French officials after medical checks, it said.

Francois, a veteran war correspondent working for Europe 1 radio, and Elias, a photographer, were abducted in early June on their way to Aleppo. Henin, who was working for Le Point magazine and Torres, reporting for French-German television channel Arte, were taken later that month.

Syria is the most dangerous place in the world for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Two French journalists remain missing in the Sahel region of North Africa.

(Reporting by Seda Sezer; additional reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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