habar-gidir hawiye Islamist insurgents confirm holding French hostages in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Islamist insurgents are holding two French men kidnapped in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday after the hostages were handed over to them by their hijackers, an insurgent official confirmed Wednesday. The hostages, who were snatched from their hotel rooms in the south of the restive city on Tuesday, were handed over to the Islamist insurgent fighters in Somalia by the gunmen who seized them. But it remains unclear which of the two main rebel groups --Al-Shabaab or Hezbul Islam -- is holding the hostages. "The French mercenaries are in the hands of the Mujahadeens, and that is a great victory for the Jihad in Somalia," an Islamist insurgent commander told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.The commander would not say which of the two Islamist groups in Somalia was holding the two Frenchmen but reports say the two sides are at logger heads as to who would hold the French abductees after the freelance gunmen who abducted them agreed to transfer them.
This comes as efforts by the Somali government to secure the release of the hostages who were security advisers to the government despite initial statements by hotel authorities said the men were journalists. ,,more..http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/15/content_11713999.htm