The Associated Press
Saturday, December 22, 2007
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Somali regional authorities may charge a kidnapped French journalist with immigration offenses after he is released, an official said Saturday.
Farah Abdi Dolshe, the deputy security minister of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, said cameraman Gwen Le Gouil "was illegally traveling, which is a clear violation against our law. We would start a law suit against him once released."
Dolshe did not specify Le Gouil's exact offense, but added that talks were going well and he expected the journalist to be released soon.
"There are trilateral talks between Puntland authorities, the kidnappers and French diplomats currently in Puntland, we together expect him to be released soon despite a ransom demand of US$80,000 by the kidnappers," said Dolshe.
Le Gouil's kidnappers have made several demands for ransom, ranging from US$70,000 to US$1 million.
The Frenchman was snatched Sunday outside the town of Bossaso in Puntland, a northern region that is far from the ferocious Islamic insurgency in the country's south. In recent months, however, Puntland has become associated with piracy off its coast and Bossaso is a notorious staging post for human traffickers running boats into nearby Yemen.
The kidnapping highlighted the widespread insecurity in Somalia, which the United Nations says is facing Africa's worst humanitarian crisis. Bossaso is about 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, which is at the center of the insurgency.
Ethiopia, with tacit U.S. approval, sent soldiers to Somalia last year to wipe out the Council of Islamic Courts, but the rebels soon launched a ferocious insurgency with the support of Ethiopia's archenemy Eritrea. A local aid group says thousands of civilians have been killed this year alone.
Source: AP, December 22, 2007