Four French journalists kidnapped and held for 10 months by rebels in Syria returned home to their families today.

They were greeted by a presidential welcome and questions about how France managed to obtain their freedom.

Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres were freed by their kidnappers a day earlier at the Turkish border.

They were captured in two separate incidents last June.

At a welcome ceremony at Velizy-Villacoublay military airport outside Paris, President Francois Hollande saluted their return as “a moment of joy” for France.

Mr Hollande saluted Turkish authorities for helping in the journalists’ return but did not elaborate.

Later, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted that “France does not pay ransom for hostages” and said no weapons had been delivered to the Islamic radicals holding the four.

“So it was of another nature,” he said vaguely, before adding: “There was no question of contact with the Syrian government.”

The journalists’ captors have not been formally identified.

Syria is currently considered the world’s most dangerous journalistic assignment.

New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in April that 61 journalists were kidnapped in Syria in 2013, while more than 60 had been killed since the conflict began in 2011.

The widespread abduction of journalists is unprecedented and has been largely unreported by news organisations in order to aid negotiations over freeing the captives.

Islamist fighting against the Syrian government are believed to be behind most kidnappings in a recent spate.