Islamist rebels holding French hostages

By Abdi Guled

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - One of Somalia's militant Islamist rebel groups was holding two French security men on Wednesday after receiving them from abductors linked to the government, police said.

Gunmen from an Islamist faction within President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's security forces seized the two in a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday, then handed them to Hizbul Islam insurgents, senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters.

Hizbul Islam was now arguing over the Frenchmen's fate with another militant rebel group, al Shabaab, whom western security services view as al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state that has been mired in conflict since 1991.

"Al Shabaab wants to take the Frenchmen from Hizbul Islam, they are on the verge of fighting," said Odweyne.

"Al Shabaab wants to kill the Frenchmen and Hizbul Islam refuses. The situation is not good."

Spokesmen for both groups declined to comment on the case.

With the rebels battling government troops on a daily basis, Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and has a history of kidnappings of foreigners, mainly aid workers and journalists. Hostages are normally released for ransom.

"Hizbul Islam is holding a hot ember in their hands. They cannot throw it away and they cannot hold it," analyst Hassan Hundubey told Reuters by telephone.