CAIRO, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Two French journalists being held hostage in Iraq were seen in a video urging their government to lift the ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.
In the video shown on the Arab al-Jazeera satellite network, the journalists also call on the French people to protest the ban, the BBC reported Monday.
The kidnappers added 24 hours to a deadline given earlier for the deaths of Christian Chesnot of Radio France International and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro newspaper if France does not comply, al-Jazeera reported.
The French government has refused to lift the ban on religious clothing in schools as demanded by the kidnappers, but French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has been in the Middle East trying to secure the journalists' release.
Earlier Monday, thousands in Paris, including many Muslim women wearing headscarves, rallied to support the hostages. But many voiced puzzlement as to why French citizens were targeted by Iraqi militants since France was so vocal in its opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the BBC said.
A group calling itself the "Islamic Army" claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and gave Paris 48 hours to cancel its scarf ban.
The controversial law, which evoked criticism from France's Muslim community, the biggest such group in Europe, is supposed to become effective later this week.
