The French President Jacques Chirac has made a short televised address in which he urged Islamic militants to release two French journalists they are holding in Iraq.
Mr Chirac announced he has sent his Foreign Minister Michel Barnier to the region try to secure their freedom.
The men are thought to have been held for over a week by a group calling itself the Islamic Army of Iraq which has demanded that the French government drop its plans to ban the use of Muslim headscarves in state schools.
Arabic TV station al-Jazeera broadcast footage of the two kidnapped men on Saturday.
The leaders of France's five million strong Muslim community have condemned the kidnapping.
