Chad says US missionary kidnapped by rebels

N'DJAMENA, Oct 18 (Reuters) A US evangelical church missionary has been kidnapped by rebels in northern Chad, an interior ministry official said today.

''The governor of the northern BET region has told me that an American priest has been kidnapped in the Tibesti (mountains) by remaining members of the MDJT rebel movement,'' Secretary of State for the Interior Abderamane Djasnabaille told Reuters.

A leader of Chad's Evangelical Church named the kidnapped American as Steve Godbold and said he was seized earlier this month at Bardai in northern Chad.

Djasnabaille said negotiations were under way with the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) rebels to obtain the release of the kidnapped missionary.

REUTERS SHB RAI1859