Florence Aubenas

Who is Florence Aubenas?

Florence Aubenas is a French journalist, who worked until 2006 for the French newspaper Libération. She was taken hostage on January 5, 2005, in Iraq along with her translator Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi.

On March 1, 2005, her captors released a video tape, in which Aubenas asked for help. She spoke English and declared she was in bad health. In the end of the 26-second video, she mentioned the name of Didier Julia. The French authorities and Florence Aubenas' family were given another video a week earlier.

Florence and Hussein were freed on June 11, 2005. France allegedly paid $10 million in ransom for their release.