Originally published on November 3, 2013

Two journalists for French radio station RFI were killed after being kidnapped in northern Mali on Saturday, according to a report by Reuters.

Claude Verlon, 58, and Ghislaine Dupont, 51, were kidnapped by gunmen following an interview at the home of a local political figure in the remote town of Kidal.

The gunmen, who witnesses say spoke the local Tuareg dialect, drove them off into the surrounding desert.

French attack helicopters were dispatched to track down the hostage takers.

A French patrol later found the bodies of the two journalists roughly 10km east of Kidal.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the killings, calling them "despicable".

"The French president ... expresses his indignation over this heinous act," said a statement from the president's office, according to Reuters.

On Sunday Hollande called an emergency meeting with ministers to establish, with the aid of U.N. and Malian officials, how the two journalists had been "assassinated".

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