French journalist Florence Aubenas is welcomed by French President Jacques Chirac upon her arrival at Villacoublay's military airport, west of Paris. Florence Aubenas, and her Iraqi interpreter, Hussein Hanoun, were freed 12 June 2005 after a five-month hostage ordeal in Iraq. (AFP)

A French journalist held hostage in Iraq for five months returned home Sunday, looking radiant and strong as she described months of captivity in a cellar, tied up and blindfolded.

Florence Aubenas, a 43-year-old reporter for the French newspaper Liberation, spent the first minutes of her homecoming embracing her family, then spoke to reporters in a strong, firm voice and in obvious good humor. Aubenas' Iraqi assistant was also freed.

The French journalist said she had been unbound recently and allowed to watch French television. She was moved to see a news ticker counting off her 140th day of captivity. "You're so happy to see that, when you're all crouched over on the ground," she said. "That's why it was so important to me to thank absolutely everybody here."

Aubenas looked relaxed and joked as she answered questions from reporters. One asked, "how do you feel?"

"Much better," she responded, laughing. She provided no information about the identity of her kidnappers and no details about her release.

President Jacques Chirac, who was among those to greet Aubenas at an airstrip in Villacoublay, west of Paris, where her plane landed, also gave no details.

Former Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who worked on the case until leaving the government this month, said France paid no ransom , and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie thanked officials in the DGSE spy agency.

In Baghdad, Aubenas' Iraqi assistant Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi received a hero's welcome - hugs and kisses from more than 60 relatives and friends. A band of trumpets played Arab tunes and a sheep was slaughtered to celebrate his homecoming.

A few hundred supporters celebrated Sunday night at Place de la Republique square in eastern Paris by taking down giant photos of the two captives that had hung there to mobilize support.

Aubenas and her assistant had been missing since Jan. 5 and were last seen leaving her hotel in the Iraqi capital. French officials have never identified the kidnappers, though authorities in both France and Iraq suggested they were probably seeking money rather than pressing a political agenda.

Each day, Liberation and many other media printed a count of how many days Aubenas and her guide had been captive.

The first and last public sign that Aubenas was alive came in a videotape - apparently recorded by her captors - that emerged on March 1. She looked pale and pleaded for help.

Many questions remained about her time in captivity. Three Romanian journalists who were held in Iraq for nearly two months said they were kept for 51 days in a cellar alongside Aubenas.

The Romanians were freed May 22 by a group that identified itself as Maadh Bin Jabal. But asked whether she was held with the Romanians at one point, Aubenas responded "no" and did not elaborate.

Liberation's editorial director Antoine de Gaudemar said he could not explain the discrepancy .

Officials "will have to put all the elements together and examine them," he said. Aubenas was expected to explain more at a news conference Tuesday.

Sorin Miscoci, one of the Romanians, told The Associated Press that the Romanian ex-hostages had discussed Aubenas comments Sunday among themselves, and, "We think she is trying to protect us because she doesn't know that we are free. Maybe she thinks we have been sold to some other group."

"When you are in there, you don't know what's happening in the outside world," he said.

De Gaudemar said the journalist apparently suffered no ill treatment or harassment in captivity. She is spending time out of the spotlight with her family, he said.

Jacqueline Aubenas, the reporter's mother, told France Info radio, "I thought I knew what the word happiness meant.

"That was nothing," she said. "It's much better than I thought."

(Agencies)

radiant: a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions（容光煥發(fā)的）

ransom: money demanded for the return of a captured person（贖金）

discrepancy : contention among members of the same organization（差異）