MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Somali kidnappers free Spanish doctor and Argentine nurse

Dr. M. Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bauza

Kidnappers in the north Somali region of Puntland have freed two aid workers from the Spanish branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Spanish doctor Mercedes Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bauza are now in a hotel in the port town of Bosasso, the Somali trade minister said. The two women were abducted last Wednesday near Bosasso. The Argentine Foreign Affairs Office reported that Minister Jorge Taiana had talked with nurse Pilar Bauzá who said she was "happy, in good spirit but very tired". She also said she was longing to join her family. Doctor Garcia and nurse Bauza are scheduled to fly to Madrid in the coming hours. Nurse Bauzá jointed MSF in 2006 and six months ago has traveled to Somalia to help with a nutrition and assistance program. Puntland has generally been more stable than the south since Somalia's last effective government fell in 1991. It was unclear if any ransom had been paid to secure the hostages' release. Originally kidnappers had posted in internet a message demanding 250.000 US dollars. Somalia Trade Minister Abdisamad Yusuf Abwan merely confirmed that the two women had been released. The Spanish ambassador to Kenya, Nicolas Martin Cinto, said Spain was happy that the two had been freed. MSF evacuated its foreign staff from southern and central Somalia on Tuesday, saying it could not keep them there while two of their colleagues were in captivity. Addi Muse, president of Puntland, which is a semi-autonomous region, was quoted saying the kidnappers had asked for a ransom. A French journalist abducted by gunmen in Puntland on 16 December was freed on 24 December. Gwen Le Gouil had been kidnapped within 24 hours of his arrival in Bosasso to research a story on human trafficking. He was freed in good health and no ransom was paid for his release, police said.