BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (SPA) -- A French engineer taken hostage in Iraq more than a month ago has been freed, France said on Sunday, confirming reports by Iraqi Interior Ministry and police sources. Bernard Planche was released by his captors near Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, and was with the U.S. military, Reuters quoted the Iraqi police sources as saying. It appeared the captors were trying to move Planche from one area to another when they encountered a joint U.S. and Iraqi army checkpoint, they said. They bundled Planche out of their car and escaped, they said. "He is now safe and in the hands of the U.S. military," the Interior Ministry source said. In Paris, the office of French President Jacques Chirac confirmed the release: "Mr Bernard Planche was freed yesterday in Baghdad. --SPA 11 24 Local Time 08 24 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/317587