Red Cross to pull out of Somalia

Armed groups in Somalia use heavily-armed trucks known as "technicals"

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is pulling its remaining expatriate staff out of Somalia following the kidnapping of ten of its personnel in the capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday.

A spokesman in Geneva, Michael Kleiner, said the ICRC's seven remaining expatriates, who were based in various towns, would be flown out to Nairobi on Thursday.

"It will be a de facto temporary halt to our activities in Somalia," he said.

Meanwhile, a team of Somali negotiators, including the former mayor of Mogadishu Ali Ugas, say they have been in contact with the gunmen who kidnapped the eight aid workers and two pilots. All but one are foreigners.

"The (Somali clan) elders have seen them. We have heard that the 10 kidnapped people are safe and sound in Mogadishu," Michael Kleiner said.

Since the overthrow of the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has been divided into fiefdoms controlled by rival clan warlords.

Ali Mahdi Mohamed, who controls the north of Mogadishu where the kidnapping happened, said he would ensure that the ten kidnap victims were released.

Mohamed Hussein Aideed, the warlord controlling the south of Mogadishu, was hopeful.

"The kidnapping was a mistake, an unfortunate slip," he said. "It will be resolved very quickly... within hours."

Both men were speaking from Kenya where they were meeting with other Somali leaders to try to revive a peace agreement.

Mr Aideed said a permanent peace for the country was "very close."

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council added its concern and hoped for an immediate release.

Kidnappings are common

The kidnapping took place on Wednesday morning at the airport in north Mogadishu, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Kidnappings in Somalia are a commonly-used way of extorting money, or a means of trying to settle disputes over other issues.

Witnesses reported that the gunmen arrived aboard four heavily-armed trucks.

They said airport guards did not attempt to intervene and ran off to hide in tea kiosks.