France, Mali Hunt Journalist Killers

An international operation was under way on Monday to hunt the killers of two French journalists shot dead in Mali, with a police source in the country's north saying around a dozen suspects had been arrested.

Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and Claude Verlon, 55, were kidnapped and killed by what French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said were "terrorist groups" in the flashpoint northeastern town of Kidal on Saturday.

"At present, there is no certainty about who committed the murder... We will do everything to find the killers and punish them," Fabius said.

A police source in Gao, the main city in northern Mali said "a dozen suspects" had been detained following the deaths of the Radio France Internationale (RFI) journalists.

But a source close to Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who refused to be named denied that there had been any arrests, telling AFP French forces had "information" that could allow the murderers to be tracked down.

The murders have shaken France, which just days ago was celebrating the return of four hostages who had been held for three years after being abducted in Mali's neighbor Niger.

Fabius told RTL radio on Monday "operations" were under way in Mali in a bid to "identify a certain number of people in camps".

The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the murders, and investigators from France's counter-terrorism unit were due to fly to Mali on Monday, a source close to the case told AFP.

Dupont and Verlon's bodies were found riddled with bullets just hours after they were kidnapped on Saturday, lying by a pick-up truck in which they had been abducted.

Fabius said Dupont, a veteran correspondent with decades of experience reporting in Africa, was killed with two bullets to the chest while sound technician Verlon "received three bullets in the head".

"When the French forces arrived behind the pick-up, they saw someone escaping not far away, around 1,500 meters (a mile) away, they followed him but did not catch him."

The victims' bodies were flown to Bamako on Sunday night, as members of RFI's management arrived to organize their repatriation and meet President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The journalists had traveled to Kidal to interview a spokesman for the Tuareg separatist group the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), and were abducted outside his home, according to their employer.

RFI quoted MNLA spokesman Ambery Ag Rhissa as saying he heard a commotion outside and saw the pair being bundled into a four wheel-drive vehicle after the interview.

Men in turbans and speaking the Tuareg language Tamasheq "ordered Mr. Ag Rhissa to get back inside and forced the journalists' driver to lie down", RFI said, adding that Rhissa had heard Verlon and Dupont resist and protest.

A French military patrol found the victims' bodies lying near their car about 12 kilometers (seven miles) east of Kidal less than two hours after the kidnapping, Fabius said.

The deaths have highlighted the ongoing security threat just three weeks ahead of parliamentary elections which are supposed to mark the completion of Mali's transition back to democracy following a military coup in March last year.

There has been an upsurge in violence in the former French colony, where Paris sent troops early this year to drive out Islamists and Tuareg MNLA rebels who had seized the country's vast north after the coup.

Some 2,000 French troops from an initial deployment of 3,000 will remain on the ground -- including around Kidal -- until the end of December, with the withdrawal of a further 1,000 to be completed by the end of January.

A U.N. peacekeeping force is eventually expected to comprise about 12,600 troops and police but Malian soldiers have nevertheless voiced concerns over the prospect of France's departure.