Thursday, July 23, 2009

Soldiers involved in French kidnappings: Somali intel

Somalia's intelligence chief says members of the Somali military, 'not the government', were involved in last week's kidnapping of two French aid workers.

In an interview with France 24 television, General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan denied any government involvement in the kidnapping of two French advisors but acknowledged that some Somali "soldiers helped the kidnappers in one way or another."

"According to our investigation, it seems that the car used to help the kidnappers was provided by the Darawish group, who work for the military," he said.

On the whereabouts of the two kidnapped French men, Sheikh Hassan said "one of the two hostages is still in the capital Mogadishu and the other in a southern province, although we're unsure where."

He added that the intelligence agency had contradictory information on the location of those kidnapped as the abductors "constantly change houses and villages."

Earlier on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the two French agents were thought to have been split up and held by two separate groups.

The two had travelled to the Somali capital Mogadishu to train forces within the Somali intelligence services before they were captured by the anti-government al-Shabaab militia group on Tuesday.

Another report by a local website claimed on Thursday that the two French nationals were killed by Al-Shabaab who had previously accused them of "espionage and conspiracy."

Kidnappings are commonplace in the Horn of Africa nation with pirates attacking foreign ships off the Somali coast and taking their crews hostage.

Most kidnapped foreigners in Somalia are released unharmed in return for a ransom.

Source: PressTV

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