Unprecedented show of solidarity planned for hostages' 100th day in captivity on 15 April

Reporters Without Borders, Libération and all the French media have prepared a special day of solidarity for Friday, 15 April, when Libération correspondent Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide and interpreter, Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi, will spend their 100th day in captivity as hostages in Iraq. "The demonstrations of support will be nationwide and will extend beyond our borders," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. "We are optimistic but prudent. Optimistic because negotiations have begun. After weeks of silence, the process has at last got under way. Prudent because the negotiations could last a long time, three days or three months. This is why the campaign must go on, because we see light at the end of the tunnel."

24 hours of action

On the eve of the two hostages' 100th day in captivity, Reporters Without Borders and Libération have asked 100 people - some of them well-known figures, some just ordinary people - to illuminate the Human Rights Esplanade at Trocadero in Paris (across the river from the Eiffel Tower) with 100 flaming torches representing "100 flames of hope." The torches will be lit at 9 p.m., at the same time that the nighttime illumination of the Eiffel Tower begins, in the presence of Sylvie and Olivier Aubenas (Florence's sister and brother), Libération publisher Serge July, Libération managing editor Antoine de Gaudemar, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard, French news media executives and editors, Ile-de-France regional president Jean-Paul Huchon, Paris deputy mayor Christophe Girard, actress Jeanne Moreau, writer Fernando Arrabal, novelist Erik Orsenna, singer Bénabar, novelist and singer Yves Simon and others.

It will launch an extraordinary 24-hour operation.

From 00:00 hours until midnight on 15 April, all broadcast TV stations will regularly display a special "Florence, Hussein, 100 days of captivity" logo designed by TF1, while radio stations will repeatedly broadcast a spot produced by France Info and spoken by Christian Chesnot, a former hostage in Iraq. Newspapers are invited to display the logo on their front page, websites to display the banner. Media wanting to participate can download the logo, banner and spot from the Reporters Without Borders website (www.rsf.org). Florence and Hussein have not been seen since they left the Mansour Hotel in Baghdad on the morning of 5 January. Florence had been in Iraq since 16 December. A veteran correspondent used to tough assignments, she has covered conflicts in Algeria, Rwanda, Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan.