Tuesday, October 12, 2010
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NAIROBI, Kenya — A clan elder in a semiautonomous northeastern region of Somalia says pirates have kidnapped a government minister who ventured into their territory.
Abdi Said says he expects Said Mohamed Rage, fisheries minister of the regional Puntland government, will be released soon. He says the pirates holding Rage told him they ambushed the minister Monday because they thought he wanted to kick them out of their dens.
Puntland's Deputy Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Hosh told AP Tuesday that Rage is being held in a hotel in a coastal village. Hosh said that during the ambush a soldier guarding the minister was killed and a civilian wounded.
Puntland is a relatively violence-free part of Somalia. In recent years, however, pirates have operated freely along part of its coastline.
Source: AP