Call for hope and an open mind one month after Aubenas and Hanoun went missing

"We must keep on hoping," Reporters Without Borders said today, one month after French reporter Florence Aubenas of the daily newspaper Libération and her Iraqi assistant Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi went missing in Baghdad. "Everything is possible and no hypothesis can be ruled out, even if a kidnapping with no political motive seems the most likely scenario at the moment," the press freedom organization said. "Everything must be done to quickly obtain evidence that they are still alive." Recent statements by the French authorities were "cautious but reassuring," Reporters Without Borders said. "We are also relieved by statements by French political leaders stressing the importance of the presence of journalists in Iraq. This shows that the press's vital role has not been forgotten." Action in support of Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun "must continue," Reporters Without Borders stressed. "More demonstrations are already planned by Reporters Without Borders and Libération. Spots produced by the Folamour agency (available at www.rsf.org/espace_presse.php3) will be broadcast on French and Arabic-language TV and radio stations, and posters of Aubenas and Hanoun will be put up in the Parisian Metrobus network from 7 to 14 February," the organization added. A veteran war reporter, Aubenas, 46, has been covering conflicts in Rwanda, Kosovo, Algeria and Afghanistan for Libération since 1986. She and Hanoun, her Iraqi interpreter and assistant, have not been seen since they left the Hotel Mansour in Baghdad on the morning of 5 January. Aubenas arrived in Baghdad on 16 December. Iraq continues to be the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. At least 31 have been killed and 15 kidnapped since the start of the war in March 2003.