The Somali militant Islamist group, al Shabaab, holding a French security contractor since July, have said they will release him if France stops supporting the Western-backed government. They also demand the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers, “especially the Burundians”, from the country, and an end to French anti-piracy patrols in the sea off the coast of Somalia. The French security contractor was kidnapped from his hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia along with a colleague, who managed to escape 26 August, and is now in France.
The demands come three days after US forces killed four men in the south of the country in a helicopter raid. The militants are battling a weak central government, which is struggling to hold onto parts of Mogadishu. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. BBC, Reuters
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News story, GenevaLunch, 17 September 2009.
Filed under: World news
Tags: African Union, Al-Shabaab, anti-piracy, Burundi, French security contractor, militant Islamists, Mogadishu, peacekeepers, pirates, Somalia