Missing Somalia journalists named: Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, Nigel Brenan, Amanda Lindhout (and driver Mahad)

Missing since Saturday August 23, 2008:

Somalia journalists Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, Nigel Brenan (pictured here below), Amanda Lindhout and their driver Mahad.

Are they being held by a militia near Mogadishu?

See August 24, 2008 BBC report 'Missing Somalia journalists named' - edited excerpt:



Photo: Australian photographer Nigel Brenan went missing near Mogadishu (AFP/BBC)

An Australian journalist and his Canadian colleague are missing, feared kidnapped, in Somalia.

Somalia's National Union of Journalists said they had been abducted along with a Somali reporter [Abdifatah Elmi] and their driver [named as Mahad].

In a statement released on its website, The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) says it "has been investigating the case of the abduction since it emerged", and is trying to discover the whereabouts of the journalists and their driver.

The NUSOJ said it received information on Sunday morning that the two Westerners and their Somali colleagues were being held by a militia in a north-eastern district of Mogadishu.

"We demand that those holding Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, Nigel Brenan and Amanda Lindhout free them unconditionally and immediately," he [Omar Faruk Osman NUSOJ Secretary General] said, adding "we are worried about their safety as we have had no contact with anybody saying they are holding three journalists and their driver."

Full story 'Missing Somalia journalists named'
Page last updated at 15:39 GMT, Sunday, 24 August 2008 16:39 UK
news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/world/africa/7580021.stm