Journalists freed in Somalia

2009-01-04 16:40

Mogadishu - Two foreign journalists - a Briton and a Spaniard - were released on Sunday after nearly six weeks in captivity in Somalia, a regional official said.

The journalists, reporter Colin Freeman of The Sunday Telegraph and freelance photographer Jose Cendon, were working on a piracy story when they were kidnapped in November.

"The journalists were released and all details will be given to the media once we hold a press conference in the coming hours," said Muse Gelle Yusuf, a governor in the semiautonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia.

Foreigners, journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransom in the Horn of Africa nation. The Associated Press did not previously identify the two journalists out of concern for their safety.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press that Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke by phone with Cendon and confirmed to the photographer's family that he was released and is in good health.

The Telegraph could not immediately confirm the pair's release. The British Foreign Office said it was investigating the report.

Two freelance journalists, an Australian and a Canadian, kidnapped near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in August are still being held.

Somalia has been beset by anarchy and an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing.

- AP