20101020
africanews

Somali gunmen released a British contractor with Save the Children organization who was kidnapped last week in Central Somalia.

Regional officials in central Somalia said Frans Barnard was released late Tuesday night in an area far from 250 Km the town of Adado where he was seized.

Mohamed Mohamud, an official with the Himan and Heb regional administration said Barnard is now in the hands of the local administration. He added he would later hand over to the charity.

"We continue to be concerned for him but at this point we are cautiously optimistic," Anna Ford, Save the Children's spokesperson in Nairobi said.

Barnard, a security expert, was kidnapped along with his Somali fixer who was released unharmed a day after abducting.

Bernard who based in Nairobi had gone to Adado to see if it is safe enough for Save children to set up a base there.

Mohamud said no-ransom was paid but other elders who involved in negotiations said the kidnappers asked for 150,000 dollars to free the hostage but they were paid only $100, 000.

Abduction of foreigners and aid workers is common phenomenon in Somalia now. Adado, the capital of the Himan and Heb region, is considered more stable than much of the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

The country has not known peace since the overthrow of Dictator Mohamed Siad Bare in 1991.