-The Associated Press - Four French former hostages returned home Wednesday after two weeks of captivity in Yemen, and President Jacques Chirac thanked Yemeni authorities for helping secure their release.
"This ordeal wasn't always pleasant but now it is over," said one of the tourists, Philippe Lefebvre, after they were greeted at Paris' Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy.
"We were well treated," added Lefebvre, who also thanked all those who worked for their freedom.
"We really want a little peace and to go home to our families," Lefebvre said.
Freed Monday, the four men were kidnapped Sept. 10 as they headed south to the Yemeni port city of Aden in a convoy — the latest in a long series of kidnappings by Yemeni tribesman seeking concessions from their government.
Chirac, in a letter dated Tuesday and released on Wednesday, thanked Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh "for the spirit of collaboration that the Yemeni authorities showed throughout this delicate affair."
Douste-Blazy said France had had no direct contact with the kidnappers.
"The Yemeni authorities alone led these discussions and reached an agreement," he said.
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Chirac thanks Yemen as French former hostages return home
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