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Two Italian hostages freed in Somalia
 MOGADISHU -- Somali kidnappers released two Italian aid workers on Tuesday who had been held hostage since May, local elders and a peacekeeper said. One elder involved in ransom negotiations said the pair had left for neighbouring Kenya, and a Ugandan peacekeeper at Mogadishu airport confirmed that.In Rome, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the two former hostages were in good health and were en route to Nairobi. Jolanda Occhipinti and Giuliano Paganini were abducted on May 21 when Somali gunmen stormed the offices of the Rome-based group, Cooperazione Italiana Nord Sud (CINS). Mohamed Hussein, a local worker at Mogadishu's international airport said he had seen the Italian man and woman arrive. "They were brought in a car with masked faces wearing dirty clothes which looked like they hadn't been washed since they were abducted three months ago," Hussein told Reuters. A Ugandan peacekeeper at the airport confirmed the former hostages had flown to Kenya, but declined to be named. The clan elder, who also asked not to be named, said a ransom of between $700,000 and $1 million had been paid. Posted by: Steve White 2008-08-06 |
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