Hospital workers protest against kidnapping of doctor

Doctors and nurses in a SOS Kinderdorf hospital in Mogadishu have stopped work in protest against the abduction of a doctor, a member of the staff told IRIN on Monday. Doctor Sa'id Ahmad Kutub was kidnapped by gunmen in south Mogadishu on 16 September while on his way to work, said the staff member. The staff of the hospital had begun the work stoppage that evening. "Today we are receiving emergency cases only," the source told IRIN on Monday. "We are demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Kutub. If the community wants our services, then they have to do everything to effect the release of our colleague," he added. Kutub is reportedly a member of a minority clan, which was probably why he was targeted, Somali sources told IRIN. The Mogadishu police chief, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid, told IRIN that police were on the case and "actively looking for the doctor and his captors". Qeybdid said the police had not yet established where Kutub was being held. The kidnappers were reportedly demanding a ransom, but had not yet said how much, hospital sources told IRIN. The SOS Kinderdorf is a maternity and paediatric hospital, and one the best in Mogadishu. It is the only hospital to have survived the civil war intact, due to the efforts of its staff and the community, Somali sources said.