Journalist freed as rebels talk of peace
President Jacques Chirac greeted Aubenas with a kiss on the cheek at an airstrip in Villacoublay, west of Paris, where her plane landed after her trip from Baghdad.
Ms Aubenas' Iraqi assistant Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, also freed, was reunited with his family in the Iraqi capital.
The 43-year-old reporter for the French newspaper, Liberation, spent the first minutes of her homecoming embracing her family, then spoke to reporters in a strong, firm voice, and in obvious good humour.
She said she had been untied recently and allowed to watch French television. She was moved to see a news ticker counting off her 140th day of captivity. "You're so happy to see that, when you're all crouched over on the ground." she said. "That's why it was so important to me to thank absolutely everybody here."
Ms Aubenas looked relaxed and joked as she answered reporters' questions.
One asked: "How do you feel?"
"Much better," she said, laughing. She provided no information about the identity of her kidnappers and no details about her release. Mr Chirac, who had spoken earlier on television about Ms Aubenas' release, also gave no details.
Former foreign minister Michel Barnier, who worked on the case until leaving the government this month, said France paid no ransom, and Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie thanked officials in the DGSE spy agency.
Iraqi authorities made an exception for Aubenas' plane to leave the Baghdad airport, which has been shut down for two days by a sandstorm, said French ambassador Bernard Bajolet. The plane had a brief stopover in Cyprus.
Ms Aubenas' supporters prepared a party at Place de la Republique square in eastern Paris, where giant pictures of the former hostages hang.
Her assistant Mr Al-Saadi returned home to southeastern Baghdad, and family and friends danced to a trumpet-led band and slaughtered a sheep to mark his homecoming.
The two had been missing since January 5 and were last seen leaving Aubenas' hotel in the Iraqi capital. French officials have never identified the kidnappers, though authorities in both France and Iraq suggested they were probably seeking money rather than pressing a political agenda.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government said yesterday that some rebels had approached it looking for peace terms and repeated its willingness to negotiate with groups which renounced violence and which had not killed Iraqis.
Government spokesman Laith Kubba, at a regular news conference, gave no details of who had made contact. While many nationalist guerrillas concentrate their attacks on US occupying forces, high-profile groups like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq would appear to be excluded from any dealings with the government because they have mounted bloody assaults on Iraqi civilians and security forces.
"Many have been trying to open channels to talk in recent weeks," Mr Kubba said. "Some were calling directly, saying 'We did not kill any Iraqis, but took up arms to resist the occupation and want to participate in the political process.' To those who have not carried out any killings of Iraqis and who are willing to give up violence and intend to take part in the political process, the door is open."
Meanwhile, it was reported that a staff paper prepared for British Prime Minister Tony Blair eight months before the invasion of Iraq concluded that US military officials were not planning adequately for a post-war occupation.
The Washington Post reported that the memo read: "A post-war occupation of Iraq could lead to a protracted and costly nation-building exercise.
"As already made clear, the US military plans are virtually silent on this point. Washington could look to us to share a disproportionate share of the burden."
The eight-page memo was written in advance of a July 23, 2002, meeting at Mr Blair's Downing Street offices, said the Post.
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