Somali insurgents holding a French security consultant hostage issued demands in return for his release on Thursday, including an immediate end to French support for the Horn of Africa nation’s government.
In a statement, the al-Shabaab rebel group also called for the withdrawal of African Union (AU) peacekeepers supporting President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s administration, and the departure of French warships tackling piracy in Somali waters.
The hostage is one of two French security consultants kidnapped by gunmen in the capital, Mogadishu, in July. His colleague managed to escape on August 26.
”By the grace of Allah and under his guidance, the mujahedin succeeded in a major operation to capture an officer and agent of the French security services,” the statement said.
In return for his release, al-Shabaab demanded the ”immediate cessation of any political or military support to the apostate government of Somalia and the withdrawal of all its security advisers in Somalia”.
The rebels also called for the withdrawal of Ugandan and Burundian soldiers who comprise the AU’s 5 000-strong peace mission, ”especially the Burundians”, and for the release of mujahedin prisoners in countries to be named later. — Reuters