Two French hostages held for almost two weeks by a radical Islamic group in Iraq are no longer in the hands of their kidnappers, French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said on Thursday.

"We know they are alive and no longer in the hands of the abductors who had held them," said the minister.

However, he gave no details on whether the two journalists had been set free. "I hope that we will, perhaps this night, tomorrow or in the next few hours, be able once and for all to turn the page on this tragic event while remaining vigilant," he said.

A report on the Arab television news network al-Jazeera said the group now holding the hostages intends to release them.

Meanwhile, Le Figaro editor Jean de Belot said on France Info radio: "The latest information is that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have been handed over by the Islamic Army in Iraq to an Iraqi Sunni guerrilla group ... an opposition that we know for a few days now has been in favor of the release of the hostages."

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said, "The information we have gathered, even if positive, remains uncertain," according to a statement issued by his office.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin was hopeful that the hostages would be freed by Friday in Iraq. "The indication that we have is positive and gives us confidence and encourages us to act," he said.

"Tomorrow is the day of prayers. Friday is a great moment of coming together, and meditation, I would like to believe that we could hope for a happy outcome." he said.

The two journalists were kidnapped by the self-styled Islamic Army in Iraq on Aug. 20 along with their driver. The group issued a demand that France repeal a controversial law that bans the wearing of the Islamic head scarf in French state schools.

France, a fierce opponent of the US-led war in Iraq, has refused to send troops there and has thus won unprecedented support from the Arab world which has publicly demanded the journalists be released.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2004)