Islamist rebels holding French hostages Courtesy of habar-gidir hawiye Interior Minister

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - One of Somalia's militant Islamist rebel groups was holding Two French men security men on Wednesday after receiving them from abductors linked to the government, police said.Gunmen from an Islamist faction within President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's security forces seized the two in a Mogadishu hotel Tuesday, then handed them to Hizbul Islam insurgents, senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters.
Hizbul Islam was now arguing over the Frenchmen's fate with another militant rebel group, al Shabaab, whom western security services view as al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state that has been mired in conflict since 1991."Al Shabaab wants to take the Frenchmen from Hizbul Islam, they are on the verge of fighting," said Odweyne."Al Shabaab wants to kill the Frenchmen and Hizbul Islam refuses. The situation is not good."Spokesmen for both groups declined to comment on the case.With the rebels battling government troops on a daily basis, Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and has a history of kidnappings of foreigners, mainly aid workers and journalists. Hostages are normally released for ransom.
The Somali government said the two Frenchmen were posing as reporters while working as security consultants to train presidential security guards. Gunmen burst into a Mogadishu hotel Tuesday and went door-to-door until they found them.
The police officer, Odweyne, said a government Interior Minister with close links to the rebels was behind the abduction. City residents and a prominent NGO have repeated that allegation.
The government has not responded specifically to that accusation, but vowed to help ensure a quick release.
FRANCE DENIES JOURNALIST GUISE
A French official denied the two were posing as journalists.
"The two French counselors were on an official mission to help the Somali government," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Frederic Desagneaux. "Their status was also official and was not that of journalists."
Several French newspapers reported Wednesday that the two kidnapped Frenchmen were agents for the DGSE, or secret services, and that they had pretended to be journalists.
Somali Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Gandi told Radio France Internationale the motives for the abduction were financial. Continued