Abductors free UN staff member kidnapped in Somalia

Following nearly a month in captivity, a Somali national officer employed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been freed by his abductors, a UN spokesman announced today.

"Professor Mohamed Ali Aborkor was released around 10 a.m. Saturday in the 'kilometre five' area of Mogadishu to a Somali elder who acted as a UN intermediary," spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

Mr. Aborkor, who had been kidnapped on 28 April, was taken to the UNDP compound where he was seen by a doctor and reunited with his family.