DOHA: The Committee of the Ulema, Iraq's top Sunni religious organisation, accused the US Army on Friday of hampering efforts to secure the release of two French journalists kidnapped on August 20.
"We are under the impression that the American forces do not want the hostages to be freed because each time we get near a solution, these forces push for a military escalation," said Mohammed Ayash al-Kubaisi, the group's representative abroad.
"We believe these forces have political aims, seeking to create a chaotic situation which does not contribute to progress," Kubaisi told AFP while on a visit to Qatar. The release of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were seized with their Syrian driver, Mohammed al-Jundi, "needs a secure atmosphere, which has not been the case since we had the first positive signs for their release."
Kubaisi referred to US bombardment earlier this month of the Latifiya region, "once they learnt that the two French hostages were there", souring the atmosphere and "blocking the path to a settlement that was underway".
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