Gunmen kidnap Pakistani in northern Somalia

Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:35am GMT

* Gunmen kidnap Pakistani working in northern Somalia

* Authorities mobilising forces to hunt gunmen

* Captive taken to mountains used by kidnappers in past



(Adds governor quotes)

By Abdiqani Hassan

BOSASSO, Somalia, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped a Pakistani national working on a farming project in Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland on Sunday, a government official said.

Muse Ghelle, the governor of Bari region in Puntland, told Reuters the man was seized about 30 kms (19 miles) south of the port of Bosasso while travelling to the project.

"Our security committee is meeting about this kidnap and we are preparing to send our troops," he told Reuters.

The governor said the gunmen had gone to nearby mountains where kidnappers also held two European journalists who were captured in Puntland in November and freed in January.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for foreign workers. Aid workers are often the targets of assassinations or kidnappings. Two freelance journalists, an Australian and a Canadian, seized in the capital Mogadishu in August are still held.

Two Somali nationals working for the U.N.'s World Food Programme were killed by gunmen last month in the south of the Horn of Africa nation.

Somalia has been plagued by civil conflict for 18 years. While Puntland is relatively stable, it is also the base for many of the pirates who have been hijacking ships offshore in the hope of getting hefty ransom payments. (Editing by David Clarke)




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