Statements made by the Ministry of Foreign and European Spokesperson (Paris, August 25, 2009)

 

Afghanistan / Assassination of the journalist Janullah Hashimanza
Iraq

Afghanistan / Assassination of the journalist Janullah Hashimanza: Statement by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs

I would like to express my deep shock following the August 24th assassination of the Afghan journalist Janullah Hashimanza, a correspondent for the Afghan press agency Pajhowk, in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, where he lived, while he was courageously carrying out his mission to inform the public.

France condemns this cowardly, heinous act and offers Janullah Hashimanza’s family and loved ones, as well as the members of the Pajhowk editorial board, its condolences, its sympathy and its solidarity. Janullah Hashimanza was a respected, highly appreciated journalist.

I hope that this assassination will be thoroughly investigated.

In these tragic circumstances, I want to applaud the crucial work done by Pajhowk and by all other Afghan press outlets and pay tribute to all journalists who, in this troubled part of the world, have sacrificed their lives to the cause of freedom of information and democracy.

[…]

Iraq

Yesterday the BBC published the confessions of a man who said he had orchestrated the latest attacks in Iraq after receiving orders from a Baathist leader who lives in Syria. Do you have any comment?

France utterly condemns the August 19th attacks in Baghdad that left many dead and injured and struck at the symbols of Iraqi sovereignty.

These investigations must be thoroughly investigated and their perpetrators pursued and judged./.