Stephane Taponier et Herve Ghesquiere, the two French journalists freed Wednesday in Afghanistan are “surprisingly well, both physically and mentally”, a French embassy official told AFP from Kabul.
Cameraman Taponier and reporter Ghesquiere, working for France 3 public television, were seized with three other Afghan colleagues by the Taliban in December 2009 in the mountainous and unstable Kapisa province, east of Kabul.
They were “found somewhere in Kapisa province, which they never left since their capture,” the official told AFP by telephone.
“They were then taken from the Tagab (French military) base to the French embassy in Kabul, where the ambassador is now with them,” he said, adding that the pair were expected to leave Kabul “as soon as possible”. Ghesquiere’s girlfriend told AFP they were expected to arrive on an overnight flight to Paris at 8am (0600 GMT) on Thursday.
Kabul, June 29, 2011 (AFP)
