Christian Chesnot, 37, of Radio France Internationale and Georges Malbrunot, 41, of Le Figaro, were kidnapped along with their Iraqi driver on Aug. 20 south of Baghdad by a group calling itself the "Islamic Army of Iraq." They are the longest-held Western hostages in Iraq.

They immediately threw themselves in the arms of their relatives, who were waiting in the tiny rain on the tarmac of the Villacoublay military airport in the southwestern suburb of Paris.

They were greeted by French President Jacques Chirac, who broke off his vacation started Monday in Morocco when he heard the news of their release. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie also welcomed the two journalists at the airport along with other officials.

The two journalists freed by their abductors Tuesday left Baghdad Wednesday morning on board a French air force plane C-130 Hercules plane for Cyprus, where they were greeted by French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier and some of their relatives before flying to Paris on board a French air force's 14-seater jet Falcon900.

They were released "because they were proven not to spy for US forces, in response to appeals and demands from Islamic institutions and bodies, and in appreciation of the French government's stand on the Iraq issue and the two journalists' stand on the Palestinian cause," the Arab-language Al-Jazeera satellite TV quoted the Islamic group as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

The release was also instigated by appeals and demands from Islamic institutions, in appreciation of the French government's stand on the Iraq issue and because of the two journalists' stands on the Palestinian cause, the statement said.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin earlier in the day denied that the French government paid ransom for their release, while refusing to unveil the details of the efforts to gain the release.

According to Communist Party senator Nicole Borvo, Raffarin told a meeting at his residence that there was neither a demand for nor payment of a ransom.

"He was very clear. We can consider this to be the word of the prime minister," said Borvo.

Another participant at the meeting, Jean-Paul Cluzel, head of the state-run Radio France for which Christian Chesnot works, said Raffarin "stressed that there was no condition attached to their liberation because they (the insurgents) demanded none.