Four French journalists held hostage in Syria by rebel militants for nearly a year walked to freedom on Saturday.

They were found blindfolded by Turkish soldiers on the Syrian border, their hands bound.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FREED FRENCH JOURNALIST DIDIER FRANCOIS SAYING:

"I'm very happy to be free, thank you."

Didier Francois is a veteran war correspondent for Europe 1 radio. He and photographer Edouard Elias were taken captive in June.

Niolas Henin was working for Le Point magazine and Pierre Torres for the French-German tv channel Arte, when they were taken later that month.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FREED FRENCH JOURNALIST DIDIER FRANCOIS SAYING:

"We are happy to be free and thank you very much. I mean, we thank the Turkish authorities because they really helped us. It is very nice to see the sky, to be able to walk, to speak freely and I am really happy."

French media reports they'd been kidnapped by the rebel group Islamic State of Iraq