* Sarkozy confirms two Frenchman abducted in Niger
* Says Niger troops pursued kidnappers close to Mali border
* Five other Frenchman kidnapped in September
(Recasts with Sarkozy, adds background)
By Abdoulaye Massalatchi and Yann Le Guernigou
NIAMEY/FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Niger's security forces battled gunmen holding two newly seized French hostages and chased them towards the Mali border on Saturday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
The pair were abducted from a bar overnight, the latest French nationals to be snatched in the Niger but the first to occur in the capital Niamey, hundreds of km (miles) from lawless desert where Islamist militants, rebels and bandits flourish.
It was not immediately clear if groups linked to al Qaeda were involved in the kidnapping.
Sarkozy, speaking during a visit to the French overseas island territory of Martinique, told reporters: "This morning there was a confrontation between the terrorists and the Niger National Guard. Its chief was injured. The Niger guard are still chasing the terrorists who are heading to Mali."
The clash took place around Ouallam, near the border with Mali about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Niamey.
"The kidnappers are in one vehicle and they are being pursued by reinforcements from Niamey," a Nigerien security source said earlier on Saturday.
Sarkozy, who urged French nationals to avoid the west African region until the security situation improved, said the abductors were heading to a safe zone in Mali which would be "extremely serious" for the hostages.
KIDNAPPERS IN TURBANS WITH GUNS
Search operations were launched on Saturday after witnesses said several men wearing turbans entered the "Toulousain" bar in Niamey and took the two men away in a car.
"Four men wearing turbans armed with automatic weapons entered the bar. Three went straight to the table the Frenchmen were at while the other one remained at the entrance," said Mamane Rabiou Aboubacar, who was in the bar at the time.
"The attackers spoke in Arabic and then forced the Frenchmen to go with them."
The incident was the latest in a series of kidnappings in Niger, where hostages have in the past ended up in the hands of al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM, which operates across West and North Africa's vast Sahara desert.
Hostages are usually quickly transferred to Mali's desert north after they are taken. Lack of cooperation between countries in the Sahel region have hindered efforts to curb the Islamists' activities. But Nigerien forces say they are ready to pursue kidnappers into Mali.
A Malian Defence Ministry source in Bamako said Mali's armed forces had been put on high alert after the latest kidnapping.
AQIM is already holding another five French citizens, some of whom work for mining giant Areva, who were among a group of seven foreigners kidnapped from the northern mining town of Arlit in September last year.
Loic Garnier, head of the counter-terrorism section at France's Interior Ministry, told Reuters earlier this week AQIM remained the single greatest danger to French interests and citizens at home and abroad. [ID:nLDE7051MV]
In previous kidnapping cases, AQIM has issued demands such as the release of Islamists jailed by governments in the region.
AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel has said Paris should pull troops out of Afghanistan and negotiate with al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden if it wants the safe release of its hostages.
Hostages have been freed after multi-million dollar ransoms have been paid, security experts say, but the payments have never been publicly acknowledged. (Additional reporting and writing by John Irish in Paris and David Lewis in Dakar; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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