(AP)- - PARIS A French journalist held in Yemen by immigration authorities for alleged illegal entry into the country is in good health, France's Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Daniel Grandclement-Chaffy, a freelance journalist, was taken into custody Thursday after he entered Yemen on a boat filled with refugees from Somalia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said. Grandclement-Chaffy was working on a story about the refugees for France 3 television.
"Our compatriot is in good health, though he was tired from the journey," said Mattei, adding that representatives of the French Embassy in Yemen visited the journalist Monday.
"We asked Yemeni authorities that our compatriot be allowed to return to France as soon as possible."
The Paris-based media freedom group Reporters Without Borders echoed Mattei's call for Grandclement-Chaffy's release and denounced the circumstances of his detention.
"We are amazed by his arrest," the organization said in a statement. "He is not a would-be immigrant and was aboard a boat carrying refugees purely in his professional capacity as a journalist. Furthermore, as the holder of a visa issued by the Yemeni authorities, he cannot be accused of entering the country illegally."
The United Arab Emirates acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its pilots were killed when their military aggression plane crashed over Jawf province, a military official said
The official added that the aggressive crashed plane was an apache that was
Artillery of the army and popular shelled a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Moqadra area in Serwah district of Marib province, a military official said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and others injured in Wadi al-Theek in the district, the official added.
The army and popular forces carried out on Monday unique military operations in Taiz province.
A military official said that a number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed at the hands of the army and popular forces in al-Jazami Hill in al-Kadaha area in al-Ma'afer district.
A Saudi aggression fighter jet targeted a citizen's car driving in Fara area of Kutaf district in Saada province overnight, killing the driver and injuring his friend, a security official said on Monday.
The army artillery and popular committees launched a fierce attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in Jawf province, a military official said on Monday.
The attack destroyed a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries and killed all on board in Sabran area in khab and shaaf district.
Scores of Saudi enemy soldiers were killed and injured on Sunday when the army and popular forces repelled a Saudi military attempt to sneak into Shurfah site in the border province of Najran, a military official said.
The operation was accomplished successfully against the Saudi
The army and popular committees have killed a total of 18 Saudi-paid mercenaries in sniper operations over the past hours in the central province of Marib, a military official said on Sunday.
Ten mercenaries were killed in Nehm district and eight others were killed in Serwah district, said the official.
Saudi aggression warplanes have launched more than 49 airstrikes over the past hours on several residential areas across Yemen, a security official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the areas of Malahiz and Husama in Dhahir district, and areas Thuban, Masahif and Sdad in Bakim district of northern Saada province.
French journalist held in Yemen in good health, says French ministry
