MOGADISHU — One of two French intelligence agents abducted by Islamist rebels in Somalia last month has escaped and taken refuge at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, officials there said Wednesday.

“I can confirm that one of the two French (hostages) managed to escape his captors,” said a member of Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s staff who asked to remain anonymous.

Government soldiers had picked him up near the presidential palace and taken him to safety, he added.

“I saw him this morning, He looked tired, but he is fine,” said another official, who also did not want to be named.

The two French intelligence agents were seized from their hotel room in Mogadishu on July 14 and were quickly separated, to be held by separate armed gangs.

The Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired militia, had said the two men would be tried under Sharia law, for “spying and entering Somalia to assist the enemy of Allah.”

Armed Somali gangs have carried out scores of kidnappings in recent months, often targeting foreigners or Somalis working with international organisations to demand ransoms.

The relentless violence and insecurity have made Somalia one of the most dangerous places in the world.

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