It's collaboration time again

Apparently.

Islam Memo Web site quoted the message from the Islamic Army In Iraq as saying that kidnapped French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot had "willingly agreed" to work for it to inform the West about the realities of the U.S.-led war and the "truth" about the Iraqi resistance.

"The Islamic Army in Iraq...has ended the imprisonment of two French journalists," the site quoted the statement as saying.

"They are now conducting their work in agreement with the Islamic Army and it was agreed (that) they work for the army to cover battles and attacks...for a limited period which has not been announced," the message was quoted as saying.

In Paris, a government spokesman said France was studying the message. "It is premature to say whether or not this statement is authentic. We are analysing it," the spokesman said.

France's objection to "Allawi's agent army" was one of the reasons for the group to agree to free the hostages, the message said.

This has just been very quickly announced on TF1 TV.

I recently had the displeasure to hear Villepin say on TV that, I quote, they "had pulled all the strings they could pull" to free the two journalists.

Now, if it turns out to be true and that the journalists do "work" for the terrorists, is the government going to force the media to publish and/or broadcast the reports from them? Or, instead, are the French media going to "willingly agree" to spread "the realities of the U.S.-led war and the 'truth' about the Iraqi resistance"?
Michael Moore has some serious competition in France apparently.

UPDATE: I don't know whether this has been posted somewhere already, but I just found out that the AFP French website is displaying a little video of a demonstration in support of the two French journalists in front of the Paris city hall. The first words that can be heard are "we consider that there are good or bad hostages." The voice is unidentified. I couldn't find anything on the web about who could have said that, what was the context and whether it could possibly be the mayor (I don't have the impression it is his voice though). Anyway, the AFP has apparently choosen to include the distinction between "good" and "bad" hostages while other, non-French hostages are being threatened...

Below is the complete transcript of the video.

Unidentified voice: We consider that there are good or bad hostages.

Pierre Malbrunot (member of Georges Malbrunot's family): We are scared. We want to be optimistic but you know it's an optimism mixed with anxiety that is getting stronger with time and we have the impression it is something that is on a knife edge, that negociators have to walk in a mined area, well it's, it's very difficult, even unbearable.

Unidentified man: I think we have to show that we are against this taking of hostages, and against all takings of hostages and I think we have to show that the whole public is against it and come in mass.