PARIS, Sept 5: Unexpected difficulties appeared on Sunday to stall the hoped-for release of two French journalists in Iraq as the government in Paris hinted at new doubts over their fate.

In Iraq, a senior Muslim cleric said that a US-led raid had "disrupted the process of their release," but that he had issued a fatwa, or a religious decree, calling for their immediate freedom.

In Paris, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and a restricted circle of senior cabinet colleagues were briefed by Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who unexpectedly returned to France late Saturday after five days in the Middle East.

Mr Barnier had earlier briefed President Jacques Chirac, and afterwards told reporters the hostages were "in good health and a positive outcome is still possible." After the meeting with Mr Raffarin, French government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said that "in view of the information we have at our disposal ... we want to believe that a favourable outcome is possible.

"That is why the government continues to work with confidence but also with much caution for the liberation of our two compatriots." His comments were markedly toned down from previous statements which had indicated that the release of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, held in Iraq since Aug 20, was only a matter of time after their captors seemed to back down from their death threat.

A senior cleric with influence among extremist Sunni Muslim groups, Sheikh Mehdi Al Sumaidaie, said on Sunday that a US-Iraqi raid Saturday on the town of Latifiya had "disrupted the process of their release."

However the cleric also said he had issued a fatwa "urging the group to immediately free and not to harm the two French reporters, in recognition of France's position on Iraq."

The French government has secured condemnation of the hostage-takers from across the whole of the Arab and Islamic world - including from extremist groups such as Hamas.

France's own Muslim leadership - including some strong opponents of the headscarf law - has also been prompt to reject foreign interference in a domestic debate, earning plaudits from across the political spectrum for its attachment to the country's democratic values.

Mr Barnier, who travelled to Egypt, Qatar and Jordan on his mission for the captives, pointedly failed to visit Baghdad - an omission which was seen as a sign of tense relations between the French and Iraqi governments.

On Friday Paris called off a visit, scheduled for Sunday, by Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar citing the "current circumstances". The French government was angered recently when a newspaper controlled by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Paris was partly responsible for the kidnapping of the journalists because it had refused to back "all international resolutions aimed at restoring Iraqis' security."

FOUR JORDANIANS TAKEN HOSTAGE: An Iraqi militant group has announced it has taken four Jordanian drivers hostage, Al-Jazeera television said on Sunday, showing footage of the latest victims of a spate of abductions of foreigners in Iraq.