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Somali cops corner kidnap gang
27/12/2007 11:42 - (SA)
Bosasso - Security forces kept Somali kidnappers surrounded on Wednesday hours after they abducted a Spanish and an Argentine aid worker from the medical charity, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF).
The two women were seized after their car was ambushed by a gang with machine guns in Bosasso port as they drove to a hospital. It was the latest in a string of such abductions in the semi-autonomous northern Puntland region.
The kidnap gang was pursued by local troops and engaged in a gunfight shortly after, locals said.
Yusuf Bidde, a local government official, said: "The kidnappers are still surrounded. We're still hopeful that we will free the hostages and capture the abductors."
Bidde did not know whether the abductees were safe or whether negotiations of any kind were going on. Puntland's vice-president Hassan Dahir Afqura said the kidnappers would not be allowed to negotiate.
Captors demand $80 000 ransom
He said: "Kidnapping has become a business in Puntland. We will not engage in dialogue with abductors. We will use force to free the hostages."
The abduction came two days after gunmen in Puntland released French journalist Gwen Le Gouil, whom they kidnapped and held for eight days demanding $80 000 in ransom.
Spain's ambassador in Nairobi, Nicolas Martin Cinto, was quoted by Spanish news agency, Efe, as saying the kidnappers of Spanish doctor Mercedes Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bouza had surrendered and asked not to be killed.
A Spanish foreign ministry spokesperson said it seemed the drama "will be resolved". United Nations envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said he was "shocked" by the kidnapping and urged the pair's release.
Known for its relative stability compared with chaotic south Somalia, Puntland had, however, became increasingly associated with kidnappings, hijackings and piracy.
Kidnappers 'treat captives well'
The MSF pair's driver, who asked not to be named, said: "Six men armed with guns approached me, blocking the road. They hit me very badly and kidnapped the women in their car."
Foreigners in Somalia often ran foul of local clans by failing to seek permission to travel through their territories.
Somali kidnappers were known to treat their captives well and almost never kill them, viewing them as an investment on which they expected a return in the form of ransom.
The women's translator said the assailants beat up their chauffeur before ordering them into another car and driving them off. "The abductors had a Toyota Surf and they blocked the way we were going," added the translator, who asked not to be named.
An MSF spokesperson, Javier Sancho, said the two kidnapped employees were working on a nutritional project for the Spanish branch of the international charity.
He said: "We don't know in what circumstances or what exactly has happened."
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