The Brotherhood “opposes the kidnapping of civilians under any pretext, particularly when the reason cited has nothing to do with the country where the abduction takes place,” said the head of the opposition group’s mouthpiece weekly Afaq Arabiya, on Sunday.

“I do not rule out there being some third party behind these aimless young men that wants to get France involved in this affair [the US-led intervention in Iraq] in a manner that conflicts with its traditional policies,” Badr Muhammad Badr said.

French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot went missing after heading south from Baghdad on August 20.