An Iraqi group claiming to hold two French journalists yesterday demanded a $5m (€4.1m, £2.8m) ransom and set a new 48-hour deadline for their demands to be met, in the latest twist in a hostage crisis now in its 18th day.

The statement, posted on an internet site in the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq, deflated hopes in France that the reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, would soon be freed.