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A group of Iraqi men have taken a French water utilities engineer hostage and are saying they will kill the French hostage unless the French government immediately pulls its military out of Iraq. The problem is France has no troops in Iraq! 
Damn, I know all of us white people look a like but this is retarded. After France's vocal anti-invasion retoric it is amazing some yokels in Iraq can still not know the position of the French national government
I just get a laugh at of that line.
I hope the dumb asses figure out which end is up and release the poor guy. Supposedly he was in Iraq doing charity work to help get people drinking water. The Iraqi insurgents seem to love kindnapping peace activists and charity workers. I guess they're just the easiest targets.
Damn, I know all of us white people look a like but this is retarded. After France's vocal anti-invasion retoric it is amazing some yokels in Iraq can still not know the position of the French national government
French hostage 'shown in video'
A militant group in Iraq has threatened to kill a French water engineer seized three weeks ago, unless France ends its "illegitimate presence" in the country.
A video apparently showing hostage Bernard Planche held at gunpoint was broadcast by Arab channel Al-Arabiya.
The channel said the previously unknown group had demanded French troops leave Iraq. France has no forces in the country and opposed the US-led war.
Mr Planche was abducted by gunmen from his home in Baghdad's Mansour district.
The video, an excerpt of which was aired on Al-Arabiya, showed a man with a moustache seated on a chair with gunmen to either side.
He spoke in English, saying: "My name is Bernard. I'm 52 years old. I'm French, from Lyons."
Release efforts
The man said he worked on water treatment projects in Baghdad and apologised for "problems" he had caused.
The name of a previously unknown militant group, Brigade of Monitoring for Iraq, was shown in one corner of the footage.
Mr Planche was working for a small non-governmental organisation called AACCESS when he was kidnapped on 5 December in Baghdad.
The French government has said it is working for his release.
"We demand the immediate release of Mr Planche as nothing can justify his being taken hostage in Iraq," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman.
"We are obviously going to examine the images broadcast by Al-Arabiya and we are going to do it very carefully."
France has tried to deter its citizens going to Baghdad since the kidnapping in 2004 of two French journalists, who were eventually freed after weeks in captivity.
Mr Planche's abduction came 10 days after that of a German archaeologist, Susanne Osthoff, who has since been released.
The fate of a group of four Christian peace activists seized a day after her remains unknown.
An armed group has also captured a Jordanian working as a driver for his country's embassy in Baghdad.
A militant group in Iraq has threatened to kill a French water engineer seized three weeks ago, unless France ends its "illegitimate presence" in the country.
A video apparently showing hostage Bernard Planche held at gunpoint was broadcast by Arab channel Al-Arabiya.
The channel said the previously unknown group had demanded French troops leave Iraq. France has no forces in the country and opposed the US-led war.
Mr Planche was abducted by gunmen from his home in Baghdad's Mansour district.
The video, an excerpt of which was aired on Al-Arabiya, showed a man with a moustache seated on a chair with gunmen to either side.
He spoke in English, saying: "My name is Bernard. I'm 52 years old. I'm French, from Lyons."
Release efforts
The man said he worked on water treatment projects in Baghdad and apologised for "problems" he had caused.
The name of a previously unknown militant group, Brigade of Monitoring for Iraq, was shown in one corner of the footage.
Mr Planche was working for a small non-governmental organisation called AACCESS when he was kidnapped on 5 December in Baghdad.
The French government has said it is working for his release.
"We demand the immediate release of Mr Planche as nothing can justify his being taken hostage in Iraq," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman.
"We are obviously going to examine the images broadcast by Al-Arabiya and we are going to do it very carefully."
France has tried to deter its citizens going to Baghdad since the kidnapping in 2004 of two French journalists, who were eventually freed after weeks in captivity.
Mr Planche's abduction came 10 days after that of a German archaeologist, Susanne Osthoff, who has since been released.
The fate of a group of four Christian peace activists seized a day after her remains unknown.
An armed group has also captured a Jordanian working as a driver for his country's embassy in Baghdad.
The hostage takers reportedly demanded French troops withdraw
I just get a laugh at of that line. I hope the dumb asses figure out which end is up and release the poor guy. Supposedly he was in Iraq doing charity work to help get people drinking water. The Iraqi insurgents seem to love kindnapping peace activists and charity workers. I guess they're just the easiest targets.
I'm not sure I want to know how the worst perform. 
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