Nairobi — Interim Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh said that the government was doing everything it could to ensure the safe release of two UN employees seized in Mogadishu, but criticised the UN security office for failing to alert the Transitional National Government (TNG) that a humanitarian team was arriving in the Somali capital. "We would like to see UN security and our own security rowing in the same direction," he said.
Two UN employees remain in Mogadishu after a group of aid workers, including nine expatriates, were caught up in a heavy battle round the compound of Medicins Sans Frontieres-Spain (MSF) on Tuesday. The two security officers, Roger Carter and Bill Condie, were detained by militia loyal to Mogadishu-based faction leader, Muse Sudi Yalahow. After the battle - which involved jeeps mounted with heavy weapons - opposition leader Muse Sudi told the BBC he wanted to "prove that Mogadishu is not safe for the international community". The UN security officers are believed to be safe, but no direct contact has been made with them, UN sources said. On Friday, two other UN staff involved in the incident were safely evacuated to Nairobi, Kenya.
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