France says its journalists "coldly assassinated" in Mali

       
Two French journalists killed in northern Mali on Saturday were "coldly assassinated", France's foreign minister said on Sunday, adding that security in the Kidal region of the west African country would be increased.          

"Security in the area and the surrounding areas, especially for French nationals, will be increased," Fabius said after a specially convened cabinet meeting to discuss the deaths.           
Fabius said "terrorists" were behind the "heinous and revolting" attack.

This comes after an army official said that France's army never had any visual or physical contact with the gunmen who killed two French journalists in northern Mali on Saturday.

Armed Forces spokesman Colonel Gilles Jarron said the bodies of the two reporters had been found by a French patrol some 10 kms (6 miles) to the east of Kidal after they were tipped off by a local resident that the journalists had been taken.          

Two French helicopters arrived on the scene 50 minutes after the patrol found their bodies, he said. Earlier, several French media reports said a French helicopter had tracked the kidnappers' vehicles after the abduction.       

Gunmen abducted and killed two French radio journalists on assignment in northern Mali, French and Malian officials said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the killings, though suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda's branch in the region.               

Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon of Radio France Internationale were grabbed Saturday in the city of Kidal by armed men in a 4x4 just after finishing an interview with the acting head of the rebel National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA, officials said. Their bodies were dumped a dozen kilometers (miles) outside the town. Their throats had been slit, according to a person who saw their bodies and four officials briefed on the matter.                        
French President Francois Hollande expressed his "indignation at this odious act." RFI said in a statement that the station is "in shock, profoundly saddened, indignant and angry."                


REUTERS/AP