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Latest update: 17/07/2009
- al Qaeda - France - hostages - Piracy (maritime) - Somalia - terrorism
French hostages split between rival insurgents
Two French security consultants held hostage in Somalia are being held by two different Islamist militant groups. In an interview with FRANCE 24, Minister of Social Affairs Mohammad Ali Ibrahim said the hostages were in good health.
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Somalia's Social Affairs Minister Mohammed Ali Ibrahim speaks to FRANCE 24 about the fate of the hostages, 16/07/2009. |
Expressing the Somali government’s displeasure over the kidnapping, Ibrahim said, “We are very unhappy with what has happened […] but we are continuing negotiations with the kidnappers and we hope for a positive outcome.”
The two Frenchmen were snatched from Mogadishu’s Hotel Sahafi on Tuesday, where they had checked in as journalists. The French Foreign Ministry later confirmed that the two men were French government employees on a mission to support military capacity-building.
Reporting from Mogadishu, FRANCE 24’s Stephanie Braquehais said the two French hostages were separated overnight on Wednesday after intense negotiations between the two rebel groups.
“Separating the hostages avoided any clashes between the two rebel groups, which had seemed imminent,” she said, adding that no one had as yet claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
An unnamed Somali government source told the AFP that a French envoy had arrived in the Somali capital to lead negotiations. But the French foreign ministry would not confirm the report.
Islamist militants are working to topple the president
The kidnappings have highlighted the dangerous situation in Somalia, a country that has been without an effective government since 1991.
In May, the two Islamist groups holding the French hostages launched a massive operation to try to topple Somalia’s ruling president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The al Shabaab (literally “youth” in Arabic) are an al Qaeda-inspired group that controls large parts of Somalia. Hizbul Islam is believed to be a more political movement led by a former ally of the Somali president, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
But according to FRANCE 24’s Lucas Menget, who has reported extensively in Somalia, the situation in the war-ravaged African country is so fluid, it’s hard to tell the difference in the agendas of armed groups operating in Somalia any more.
“We can’t talk about political groups or illegal groups any more,” said Menget. “All of these groups turn to banditry at some point to try and get some money.”
These militia and armed groups “need huge amounts of money to function,” he explained. “Kidnapping these two security agents brings publicity and money to mafia-type groups and terrorists inside Mogadishu.”
Islamist groups control the south and the centre of the country, as well as large parts of Mogadishu.
President Ahmed is holed up inside the presidential palace, protected by soldiers from the African Union’s peace mission, Amisom. In June, the embattled Somali government launched an appeal to neighbouring countries to help Somalia fight the offensive from Islamist insurgents.
