Paris: France sent a plane to Iraq on Monday to fetch 36 Iraqis who were wounded in a deadly al Qaeda hostage-taking at a Baghdad church, the Foreign Ministry said.
The plane was due to bring the 36, who bear bullet and grenade wounds, along with 21 companions to Paris on Monday evening and they will then be taken to nearby hospitals, a ministry spokesman said.
France promised to help the most seriously wounded after the October 31 shoot-out when al Qaeda gunmen stormed a Syriac Catholic cathedral during mass, prompting an assault by Iraqi and US security forces. Forty-six people were killed.
French Immigration Minster Eric Besson on Sunday said a second group of 93 people would be brought to France "in the coming weeks".
France has agreed to grant asylum to a total of 150 Iraqis including those wounded in the attack and their families.
Bureau Report
