Two French journalists seized by insurgents this week in Afghanistan are alive and well, Reuters quoted their employer as saying today. The reporters, their Afghan translator and driver were working for France 3 television when they were kidnapped on Wednesday while driving through Kapisa province, northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul. Paul Nahon, a manager at France 3, said the reporters were in good condition. "They are alive and being well treated. This is very reassuring," he told France Info radio. He gave no information about the Afghan workers. Italy"s Ansa news agency quoted the spokesman of a local Afghan governor as saying the reporters and their translator had been taken to a remote Taliban stronghold that had been surrounded by Afghan and international forces. It added that the driver had been freed. Spokesman Alim Ayar told Ansa that no military action had been taken since efforts were under way to secure the release of the hostages with the help of tribal elders. The report could not be immediately confirmed and the French Foreign Ministry in Paris declined any comment.
