Released UN hostages arrive in Nairobi

The two UN hostages held in Mogadishu, who were released on Wednesday by their captors, arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, at 1625 local time. A UN press statement said Roger Carter and Bill Condie of the UN security office were transferred to Jazira airstrip, where they were picked up by a UN plane. Jazira is an airstrip southwest of Mogadishu, jointly controlled by faction leaders Usman Ato and Muse Sudi Yalahow. The two were kidnapped on 27 March by militia loyal to faction leader Muse Sudi. The released hostages arrived in good health, and were met by a physician and a psychologist, the UN said. UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Randolph Kent told reporters at the airport that the UN was pleased by the release, and had not been directly involved in the negotiations. “The UN does not pay ransoms,” Kent told journalists. On Wednesday, the two security officers were brought from their place of captivity in the north of the city to the house of Umar Muhammad ‘Finish’, right hand man of Muse Sudi, a Mogadishu-based correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.