Foreign journalists abducted in Somalia, UN denounces clashes

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Gunmen abducted two freelance journalists, an Australian man and a Canadian woman, near Mogadishu Saturday, as the UN envoy to Somalia condemned recent violence in the port city of Kismayo.

The pair, both freelance reporters, were abducted on a road between Mogadishu and Afgoye, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) to the west, police and a witness said.

"They were taken under the threat of firearms. It was an abduction," a security official at a hotel south of the capital told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A police officer confirmed the abduction.

The two journalists had been planning to visit several refugees camp at Afgoye, they said.

"It's (clear) that they were kidnapped because their schedule was to come back to...