For the first time since hostage-taking became a trend in post-war Iraq, a torrent of protests from the Arab and Islamic world have condemned the actions of the kidnappers. Leaders – civilian and religious alike – have been unanimous in calling the deed of the Islamic Army counterproductive to the Arab cause as well as un-Islamic.

The support and solidarity shown to France and the two ill-fortunate journalists is unprecedented. The list of prominent leaders who have vociferously come out against the kidnapping of Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot reads like a ‘who's who’ of the Arab-Islamic world.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; Islamist extremists of the Palestinian Hamas movement; Sheikh Muhammad Sayed Al Tantawi, grand imam of Cairo's prestigious Al Azhar Islamic University; Sheikh Hassan Fadlallah, Lebanon's Hizbullah spiritual leader; Muhammad Bahr Al Uloum, a leading Iraqi Shia cleric; Jordan's foreign minister Marwan Muasher; and an aide to the fiercely anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr – Those are only a few who have joined a larger chorus of influential leaders demanding the release and safe return of the two French journalists.

The Islamic Army has threatened the French journalists, who were kidnapped on August 20 while on their way to cover the clashes in Najaf, with "execution" unless France rescinds a law banning the ostentatious display of religious symbols in public schools. The ban, which primarily targeted the wearing of headscarves by Muslim women also covers large crucifixes and Jewish skullcaps.

The kidnappings were even condemned by French Muslims opposed to the law banning the headscarves, a law that created much controversy in France. But in a rare show of solidarity, all political and religious groups have banded together in an effort to save the two reporters.

The head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith in France, Dalil Boubabkeur, who represents the country's 6 million strong Muslim community – roughly 10 percent of France's population – said he was prepared to dispatch representatives to Baghdad to help obtain the release of the two hostages.

In Paris, interior minister Dominique de Villepin and Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe joined Boubakeur on Tuesday for prayers at a mosque.

According to Petra, the official Jordanian news agency, King Abdullah of Jordan told France's foreign minister Michel Barnier that the Hashemite kingdom would step-up efforts and intensify contacts with "relevant Iraqi groups" in order to ensure the safe return of the French hostages. Jordan's foreign minister also told his French counterpart that Jordan would use all its clout in the area to help in any way it can.

French President Jacques Chirac, who is standing firm on the headscarf issue, launched an aggressive diplomatic campaign to secure the safe release of the two journalists. In addition to Jordan, he dispatched Barnier to Cairo and other Arab capitals to recruit whatever help could be gotten. In Egypt, Barnier met with Egypt's intelligence chief, who has successfully secured the release of kidnapped Egyptian citizens in Iraq.

In the Middle East, the entire Arab press has come out in support of France and against the kidnappings, stressing that France did not dispatch troops to Iraq and led the opposition to the US-led invasion.

Al Jazeera, the controversial Qatar-based Arab satellite network, on whose airwaves the kidnapped journalists appeared pleading for their lives, is highlighting the appeal for the release of the kidnapped Frenchmen. Pleas from Islamic and Arab leaders are aired every 20 minutes and according to French radio, RFI, for whom one of the kidnapped reporters works, Al Jazeera has issued directives to all its correspondents to immediately report any appeal from any Arab and or Muslim leader making any statement that could positively influence the kidnappers and help secure the release of the hostages.

The London-based ‘Al Hayat ’ daily newspaper stressed that it was important for the two French journalists to return home unharmed as soon as possible, saying that France did not deserve such treatment from Iraqi kidnappers. The Saudi-funded paper added that other nationals were kidnapped on the pretext that their countries participated in the invasion of Iraq and to place pressure on the invading countries.

But in France's case, the daily said, this excuse was "a nonstarter, considering Paris' well-known position since the start of the [Iraq] crisis, and its peaceful campaign that opposed invasion or occupation."

The newspaper stressed that the issue of the headscarves was primarily "an internal French matter."

Earlier in August, the Islamic Army was reported to have kidnapped and killed an Italian journalist after Rome refused to withdraw its troops from Iraq, as requested by his kidnappers. The Islamic Army is also believed to have kidnapped Iran's envoy to Kerbala, Fereidoun Jahani.

Similarly, they have demanded that Iran return prisoners from the eight-year Iran-Iraq War. Tehran said it had none, having released all POWs after the fall of Saddam Hussein last year. The deadline passed without incident and Jahani is still missing.

One can only hope that the combined efforts undertaken by France and its friends and allies in the Middle East will yield more positive results.

Claude Salhani is international editor at United Press International