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A national officer working for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Mogadishu, who was kidnapped by gunmen last week, is still being held by his captors, a police spokesman told IRIN on Monday.
The employee, Ahmad Ma'alin Muhammad, better known as "Dishapilin", was walking from his house in Medina, southwest Mogadishu, towards his office on 28 February when he was abducted.
Mogadishu police spokesman, Colonel Muhammad Yusuf Madale, said police had narrowed down the area of the city where they believed Ahmad was being held. "They have been moving him around a lot, to avoid detection, but we have managed to narrow down the area quite considerably," he said.
"We have just received a telephone number, through which we believe we will able to communicate with the kidnappers," he told IRIN. "We may finally get a clue as to why he was kidnapped." He added that the kidnappers had so far not made any demands.
A UN spokesman in New York said the UN authorities in Somalia and New York "are trying to secure the release" of the staff member. The spokesman added that "information is very scarce at this time, and it is too early to speculate about why he was abducted".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
