Mogadishu – Two French security agents kidnapped in Somalia have been split up and are now being held by separate radical Islamist groups, an Islamist source said on Thursday.
One of the hostages is being held by the al-Qaeda inspired Shebab militia that controls large parts of Somalia, while the second is in the hands of Hezb al-Islam, headed by the radical Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
“The two Islamist groups agreed to divide the hostages between themselves this morning after a long argument about their fate,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
“Shabab have one and Hezb al-Islam took the other one with them,” he added.
A government security official at the presidential palace was unable to confirm the report, but said the government was negotiating a ransom payment with one of the groups.
“We only know that the government is contacting with one group to discuss ways of releasing the hostages, including paying ransom,” the security official said.
The French foreign ministry have described the two men as security consultants. They were kidnapped on Tuesday from their Mogadishu hotel by gunmen wearing government uniforms.
