* Journalists taken by four armed men, local governor says
* Two RFI journalists had just interviewed MNLA official
* Abduction follows release of four French hostages in Niger
BAMAKO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Two French journalists were snatched by gunmen in the northern Mali town of Kidal on Saturday after interviewing a member of a separatist rebel group.
"I have just got confirmation they were abducted by four armed men. They had left Bamako on Tuesday for Kidal," the region's governor, Colonel Adama Kamissoko, told Reuters.
Both journalists, from French radio station RFI, were seized after they had interviewed Kidal resident Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, a local culture official the MNLA Tuareg separatist group.
"When they left, I heard a strange noise outside. I immediately went out to see and when I opened my door, a turbaned man pointed a gun at me and told me go back inside," Rhissa told Reuters by telephone.
"I could not see how many men were there," he said.
The kidnapping happened four days after four French hostages taken in Niger by al Qaeda's north African wing in September 2010 were released.
The French foreign ministry said it was checking the information while the defence ministry could not be reached for comment.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
