French Hostage Bernard Planche Is Safe

(Baghdad) Good news! French hostage Bernard Planche has been released!

A little-known terrorist group called the "Surveillance for the Sake of Iraq Brigade" claimed responsibility for abducting the French engineer last month and threatening to kill him if France didn't end its illegitimate presence in Iraq. Fortunately, the terrorists' plans were changed yesterday.

From Reuters:

France confirmed the release of Bernard Planche, who was seized in early December in Baghdad where he had been working for a non-governmental organization at a water treatment plant.

The Iraqi sources said it appeared Planche's captors were trying to move him from one area to another on Saturday when they encountered a joint U.S. and Iraqi army checkpoint near Abu Ghraib prison, west of the capital.

They pushed the Frenchman out of their car and escaped.

"He is now safe and in the hands of the U.S. military," the Interior Ministry source said.

It's not clear whether the kidnappers planned on releasing Planche or they panicked but, either way, Planche is free and French President Jacques Chirac expressed delight. For emphasis and just because I like the way it sounds, I'll repeat, "He is now safe and in the hands of the U.S. military."