The editor of the French newspaper Le Figarosaid tonight that Islamic militants had handed over two French journalists to an Iraqi group that has said it was in favour of releasing them.
French hostages Christian Chesnot (left) and Georges Malbrunot speak in a videotape aired on Arabic television station Al Jazeera on Tuesday
Mr Jean de Belot said on France Info radio that the news was positive but that he remained cautious until the men were in safe hands.
"The latest information is that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have been handed over by the Islamic Army in Iraq to an Iraqi Sunni guerrilla group...an opposition that we know for a few days now has been in favour of the release of the hostages," Mr de Belot said.
"Some people are talking of their release this night, others talk of tomorrow morning... but until the good news has actually arrived, we cannot allow ourselves to be absolutely reassured," he added.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said earlier he had received information the pair were "alive and getting good treatment".
Mr Malbrunot and Mr Chesnot were kidnapped on August 20th by a group called the Islamic Army in Iraq. The kidnappers demanded France revoke its ban on Muslim headscarves being worn in schools or it would execute the two men. The deadline passed on Wednesday and France put the ban into force today.
Twelve million French pupils returned to school today, and even schools with dozens of veiled pupils last year saw few or no headscarves at their gates. In schools around Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille - areas with large Muslim populations - some girls wore their headscarves to the school gates.
Education Minister Francois Fillon instructed schools to admit everyone on opening day but invite girls defying the ban for talks that could take up to a week or two. If a girl still refused to take off the headscarf, she would be expelled.
France clamped down on headscarves as a symbol of a growing Islamic identity among pupils. There have been an increase in cases of Muslim pupils denying the Holocaust and rising numbers fasting during Ramadan and pressuring less observant Muslim pupils to join them.
Jewish pupils have also reported increasing attacks by Muslims. France's five million Muslims and 600,000 Jews are both Europe's largest such minority.
The ban also covers Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, to ensure the secular rules are applied evenly, but officials have made clear their main target was the headscarf. The ban does not apply in Catholic and other private schools.
Leaders of the 5,000-strong Sikh community in France said it was still not clear whether turbans would be allowed or not, since each school principal would have the final word. The Sikhs argue that their turbans are not religious symbols.