Two held over pirate journalist kidnaps

Two men were arrested today over the kidnapping of a British and a Spanish journalist in Somalia reporting on the region’s pirates.

Six other suspects were on the run after the men were snatched yesterday said a police spokesman in Somalia’s Puntland region.

Foreigners, journalists and aid workers are frequently abducted for ransoms in Somalia, an impoverished nation caught up in an Islamic insurgency which has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Yesterday gunmen killed the head of nurses at the only facility giving free medical care to women and children in the capital, Mogadishu. Abukar Abdulahi Baji died after his vehicle was ambushed.

Besides the violent chaos stemming from the country’s lawlessness, Somali pirates have become increasingly daring this year. Their biggest capture came this month – a Saudi supertanker.

There have been 96 pirate attacks this year in Somali waters, with 39 ships hijacked. Fifteen ships with nearly 300 crew are still in the hands of pirates, who have demanded multimillion dollar ransoms.