Azeri UN aid worker freed in Somalia
Four United Nations aid workers taken hostage by
unknown armed men in the south of Somalia - including an
Azerbaijani - have been released.
According to the UN representative in Somalia, the hostages were freed early on Tuesday -- several hours after local officials had been informed of their capture.
Agshin Mehdiyev, the Azerbaijani ambassador to the UN, has confirmed in an interview with Baku-based ANS TV that Miragha Babayev, a citizen of Azerbaijan working for the UN Development Program, was among the hostages, along with the nationals from Somalia, Ghana and France.
Mehdiyev said the armed men had not used force against them and that Babayev was well.
Reportedly, the kidnappers had not put forward any demands to the UN representatives in exchange for their release.
The four - working for the UN Development Program and the World Food Program - had been kidnapped on the Somali-Ethiopia border on Monday evening.
Two employees of the UN have been killed in Somalia this year. In 2008 alone, 35 people working in various aid programs were killed, while 26 are still being held hostage, according to official estimates.
According to the UN representative in Somalia, the hostages were freed early on Tuesday -- several hours after local officials had been informed of their capture.
Agshin Mehdiyev, the Azerbaijani ambassador to the UN, has confirmed in an interview with Baku-based ANS TV that Miragha Babayev, a citizen of Azerbaijan working for the UN Development Program, was among the hostages, along with the nationals from Somalia, Ghana and France.
Mehdiyev said the armed men had not used force against them and that Babayev was well.
Reportedly, the kidnappers had not put forward any demands to the UN representatives in exchange for their release.
The four - working for the UN Development Program and the World Food Program - had been kidnapped on the Somali-Ethiopia border on Monday evening.
Two employees of the UN have been killed in Somalia this year. In 2008 alone, 35 people working in various aid programs were killed, while 26 are still being held hostage, according to official estimates.
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