[Translated from Le Monde (Paris)]

Médias

FLORENCE AUBENAS'S FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT, ON THE TARMAC AT THE VILLACOUBLAY AIRPORT
Le Monde (with AFP)
June 12, 2005

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3236,36-661231@51-643735,0.html

After embracing family and friends and spending a few minutes in the reception hall of the military air base at Villacoublay, in the Paris suburbs, reporter Florence Aubenas came and addressed her colleagues, who were waiting for her, improvising what she called "a general assembly of journalists."

First, she thanked "all those" who were active in seeking her liberation, "and who made it possible for me to be here today."

"Hello everybody . . . I wanted to speak to everyone in Toulouse, in Lille, French men and women, presidents, ministers, journalists, teachers . . . all those who made it possible for me to be here today and to be back in France.

"Thanks to everyone. There, I don't know why, I feel good."

Asked about whether she had been kept informed about what was happening outside, she said: "A funny thing happened to me. Once, the kidnappers told me 'we're going to show you on TV because you look really depressed' and everyone knows that TV boosts morale."

'HER NAME IS FLORENCE HUSSEIN'

"They told me: 'You can raise the band (over your eyes) a little to see the screen.' I looked, it was TV5. There was an anchorwoman there . . . and I see underneath a running band and I say to myself: 'Hey, that's a good sign for me, that woman's name is Florence Hussein.'"

"Behind her, I see a number: 140. After a minute, I understand that Florence Hussein, it's me they're talking about, and 140 means it's 140 days (of detention).  [May 20 was Florence Aubenas's 140th day of detention.  --M.K.J.]  At that moment, (while) I'm the first to make fun of solidarity concerts, the first not to go to demonstrations, when you see that, I genuinely regret not having gone to more of them."

She continues: "The next time that you have a demonstration, I'll go, I promise, because you're so happy when you see that when you're squatting on the ground."

Referring to the time when here jailers allowed her to watch television, Florence Aubenas said that she was "seated, squatting." But "on that day, they had untied my hands and feet, so everything was really going my way."

PRESS CONFERENCE TUESDAY

Hearing questions all around her, she quickly announced that she would be holding a press conference Tuesday morning at the offices of *Libération*. "We've planned with the newspaper to do a press conference Tuesday morning so that everybody can have access to the same news at the same time."

Florence Aubenas said she felt "a lot better." Asked about how she made it through the ordeal, she answered: "You have no choice. You're there and you do what you can. We were in a basement with Hussein. Conditions were bad."

Florence Aubenas then denied having been detained in Iraq with the Romanian hostages who have been liberated, contrary to what they asserted shortly after the announcement of her liberation. To a reporter who asked her whether she had shared her captivity with the Romanians, she in fact replied, after a moment of hesitation: "No."

Finally, she reminded people there would be a press conference Tuesday where everyone would get more news.

--
Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Home page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu