A member of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) was kidnapped on Wednesday, sources in Mogadishu told IRIN. Four armed men abducted Muhammad Abdi Gas as he was walking near the KM 4 area in south Mogadishu. Local sources blamed the kidnapping on supporters of faction leader Usman Hasan Ali Ato. The kidnappers were hired after claims that the MP owed money, the source said. Ato is one of the main Mogadishu opposition faction leaders.
Gas, from the northwest, is the second MP to be kidnapped since the interim government moved to Mogadishu last October. Abdirahman Dua'le Ali, also from the northwest, was kidnapped in January, and was also accused by his abductors of owing them money. Another TNA member, Hasan Ahmad Ilmi, was gunned down in his house last November.