08 January 2005	Saturday	26 Ziqa'ad 1425

PARIS, Jan 7: French President Jacques Chirac on Friday warned journalists to stay out of Iraq, two days after a reporter went missing in Baghdad and two weeks after the release of two correspondents held hostage for months.

Mr Chirac said he was "worried" about the fate of 43-year-old Florence Aubenas, a senior correspondent for the French daily Liberation who has not been seen since leaving her hotel in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday.

Just three weeks ahead of planned landmark elections in the violence-wracked country, the French president said the safety of reporters on the ground could not be guaranteed.

"Today, we have no news of your colleague and we are worried. Naturally, we are mobilizing all possible means to obtain information and to find her," Chirac told reporters attending a New Year's reception at the Elysee palace.

"I want to reiterate that the French authorities have formally advised against sending journalists" to Iraq, the president said. "For everyone, it's a question of responsibility. At the current time, the security of our correspondents cannot be ensured."

Chirac said while he understood "the demands of the profession," there were clear limits, adding: "It's not good to put people's lives in jeopardy". Aubenas and her Iraqi translator Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi left their Baghdad hotel early on Wednesday and have not been seen or heard from since, Liberation said Thursday.

"We don't know what has happened," Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told the LCI news channel. Liberation editor-in-chief Serge July said no explanations had been ruled out, including a possible car accident, a round-up by the Iraqi police or detention by US forces at a checkpoint. -AFP