3 Ex-Captive French Soldiers Fly Home

CAIRO — Three French military personnel captured recently near the Saudi-Iraqi border while on a scouting mission arrived in Paris early Sunday after Iraq handed them over to the French Embassy in Baghdad, officials said.

The three, a captain and two noncommissioned officers, were in a jeep on a reconnaissance patrol when they bumped into Iraqi troops. No shots were fired, the French army said.

“It is not clear yet if they will face charges and punishment for allowing themselves to be captured,” a French diplomat in the Middle East said.

The incident, a week ago, embarrassed Paris when Iraq revealed it Friday and then said it was freeing them in appreciation of a special relationship with France.