20 Apr 2014

Kidnapped journalists freed

7:37 am on 20 April 2014

Four French journalists held captive in Syria for almost a year are now free.

In a statement, President Francois Hollande said on Saturday he had "learned with great relief this morning of the liberation of the four French journalists".

Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres were "in good health," he added.

The four men had been held hostage in Syria since June 2013. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) were suspected of kidnapping them.

The BBC reports they were found overnight Friday-Saturday by Turkish soldiers on the border with Syria, blindfolded and with their hands bound.

More than 60 journalists have been killed in Syria since the beginning of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad three years ago.