PARIS, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called an emergency ministerial meeting Sunday to discuss the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq, local media reported.

    Raffarin canceled a trip to the south of France to hold the meeting at 9:45 am (0745 GMT) with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier,Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin and Communications Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.

    Islamic militants on Saturday released a brief tape showing two French journalists kidnapped recently in Iraq and said they were holding the men to protest a French law banning Islamic head scarves in schools, according to footage aired by Qatar-based ArabTV station Al-Jazeera.

    The kidnappers from the Islamic Army in Iraq gave the French government 48 hours to overturn the law.

    The two journalists, identified as Christian Chesnot of Radio France Internationale and Georges Malbrunot of Paris daily Le Figaro, went missing on Aug. 20 after leaving Baghdad for the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, where US forces were fighting Shiite Muslim militants.

    France's Foreign Ministry has issued a brief statement, calling for the release of the journalists.

    The French law, which takes effect when the school year starts Wednesday, forbids public school students from wearing religious apparel and "conspicuous" signs showing their religious affiliation. Enditem