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Kidnapped UN worker still in captivity

    NAIROBI

    A national officer working for the UN in Mogadishu, who was kidnapped by gunmen on Sunday, is still being held by his captors, a Somali police spokesman told IRIN on Thursday.

    The employee, Prof Muhammad Ali Abukar, who works for the UN Development Programme, was on a bus going home from work to the Medina district of southwest Mogadishu, when he was abducted.

    A UN statement said contact had been established with Abukar's abductors via intermediaries. "Through telephone contact, a meeting with the UN country team for Somalia has been requested in order to continue negotiations for Professor Abukar's safe release," the statement said.

    The statement said the team had expressed concern for the speedy delivery of medication needed by Abukar. He is known to be suffering from from high blood pressure, according to a source close to Abukar's family.

    Abukar, who had initially been held in the vicinity of the K-7 area in south Mogadishu, was reportedly moved to Medina district, the source told IRIN. "Now that he is in Medina, we hope we will have better luck in effecting his release."

    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

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