France To Treat 30 Iraqis Wounded In Baghdad Church Assault

An Iraqi police commando stands guard outside the attacked church in Baghdad

Paris says that some 30 Iraqi Christians wounded in a deadly Al-Qaeda hostage crisis at a Baghdad church will be flown to France for treatment.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon, told reporters in Beirut that a French plane will bring the wounded to France by November 8.

At least 46 hostages, including two priests, were killed on October 31 in a raid by Iraqi security forces to end the hostage-taking by Al-Qaeda gunmen in a Syriac Catholic cathedral during Sunday mass.

compiled from agency reports