PARIS, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A French reporter who disappeared in Iraq in 2003 is dead, France's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Thursday.
Journalist Frederic Nerac went missing in Iraq in March 2003 shortly after the U.S.-led invasion.
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A Foreign Ministry statement issued Thursday said Nerac died during a gun battle between Iraqi and U.S. soldiers, which took place when he was aboard an Iraqi vehicle.
France-led international opposition against the U.S.-led war, and contributed no troops to it.
French Foreign Ministry officials launched an inquiry into Nerac's fate eight months ago. They have yet to find his body.