Somalia: Italian nuns freed by kidnappers
(AKI) - Two Italian nuns kidnapped in Kenya three months ago and taken to neighbouring Somalia have been freed, the Italian government said on Thursday. Gunmen abducted Maria Teresa Olivero and Caterina Giraudo, who are both in their 60s, in the northern Kenyan district of Mandera in November and took them across the border.
The nuns had been working with the poor on hunger and health programmes in Kenya.
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters on Thursday the two Roman Catholic nuns were now at the Italian embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
"Their morale is high," Berlusconi told reporters.
Following the nuns' abduction, Pope Benedict XVI had expressed concern about their fate.
The Italian foreign ministry, which first announced their release, did not give further details.
Posted by: Fred 2009-02-20 |