Abductees' families ask France to push Lebanon for information

   The families of abducted Israel Defense Forces asked French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Monday evening to demand a sign of life from the soldiers as a condition for the visit of Lebanese parliamentarians. Representatives from various Lebanese factions are set to meet at the end of the month in Paris to discuss the future of their government. Kouchner told the families that he could not heed their request, but promised to demand from the parliamentarians information about the soldiers."For France, the release of the abducted soldiers is a must, and in every meeting or political interaction, we repeat this demand, and will continue to do so," Kouchner said. The families of all three abducted soldiers met in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said Monday he would use all the power at his disposal to return the three servicemen home safely. Sarkozy spoke in depth on the matter of Gilad Shalit who holds joint Israeli and French citizenship, saying he considers the IDF Corporal kidnapped by Hamas over a year ago to be a fully fledged French national. "He promised us that he's doing all the efforts he can in this matter," Gilad Shalit's father, Noam Shalit, said in English after the meeting, Haaretz reported.(22,59)