UN workers still held in Mogadishu

Two United Nations workers seized in Mogadishu on 27 March remain in detention. UN security officers Bill Condie and Roger Carter are being in north Mogadishu, sources in Mogadishu said. The two were among nine expatriate aid workers caught up in an attack on the Medicin Sans Frontier-Spain compound on 27 March by militia loyal to faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow. UN spokeswoman Sonya Green said that a Somali doctor was visiting the two security officers every day, and that they “remain in good physical condition”. Local papers in Mogadishu have reported that a ransom of US $30,000 has been demanded. Green said that while the UN was aware of reports published in Mogadishu, the UN had not itself received a ransom demand “directly or indirectly”.