The incident is reportedly related to an internal staffing issue – AP quoted MSF worker Ahmed Ali, who claimed that a recently fired employee was responsible for the shooting. 

The news appears to have been broken by @HSMPress, a Twitter account run by Al Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent group:

A fierce battle is now raging inside #MSF office building in #Mogadishu. A gunman has stormed the building & opened fire on MSF staff inside

— HSM Press Office (@HSMPress) December 29, 2011

HSMPress continued to provide updates on the situation as it developed including information regarding the possible identities of the gunman and the victims. 

Freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan are finally free and in Kenya after being held hostage in Somalia for over one year. The duo were snatched on the outskirts of Mogadishu in August, 2008. It’s a story we have followed very closely since day one,

"I’m so happy to be free; it feels like a dream," Canadian Amanda Lindhout said. Her Australian colleague Nigel Brennan said he was still "in shock" link

We catalogued the story in the graphic above and on this post – which I’m glad to say I can finally stop editing. And I know those Frontlne bloggers who have worked in Somalia – namely Alex, David and Rob – all kept a close eye on developments and contacted their sources on the ground to see what, if anything, they could find out.

Rob Crilly gives an excellent overview of the unique risks of working in Somalia. These risks multiply exponentially if you work as a freelance. This is an issue we have covered before and no doubt will again.

It’s fantastic to hear Amanda and Nigel have been released and may their story be a lesson to anyone else thinking of heading into Somalia.

But let us not forget that Beverly Geisbrecht, another Canadian freelance journalist, who was kidnapped a year ago this month, remains held somewhere along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.

A group of six Canadian media organisations have banded together to petition the Canadian government and help raise awareness of the kidnap of freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan in Somalia over one year ago,

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is launching a campaign, joined by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Canadian Media Guild (CMG), the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada and PEN Canada (NEPMCC), asking the federal government to do everything in its power to bring home Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and her Australian colleague Nigel Brennan. link

CAJ president Mary Agnes Welch is careful to note that this new petition is not about media attention,

“is about personal action. Media attention could jeopardise the safety of Amanda and Nigel” link

This petition follows on from an earlier petition which, according to one commenter who appears to have created the petition, has kind of lost steam.

Amanda Lindhout is not the only Canadian freelance journalist being held against her will. Beverly Giesbrecht was kidnapped in the region between Pakistan and Afghanistan in November, 2008. She is still being held.

We’ve followed this kidnap story very closely since August 23, 2008 when the duo were captured, reportedly on the outskirts of Mogadishu a they were heading to an refugee camp. You can see the timeline of events in the graphic above.

If you’d like to add this constantly updated graphic to your website, blog or social networking site please go to Frontline Club on Dipity and grab the “embed widget” and follow the instructions for embedding into your site. Meanwhile here are the contents of the petition letter,

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Block
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

We, the friends, supporters and colleagues of Amanda Lindhout, join with the undersigned organisations to ask the Canadian government to make it a top priority to work for the immediate and unconditional release of Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and her Australian colleague Nigel Brennan.

The two journalists have been held in captivity in Somalia for over a year. We urge you to commit full governmental support and resources to work with Amanda’s and Nigel’s families to bring them home. A year is too long – efforts must be redoubled.

Please do everything in your power to bring Amanda home to Canada.

Yours sincerely,

Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
Canadian Media Guild (CMG)
National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)
PEN Canada link

"It is true that Lindhout and Brennan are not in Mogadishu," said [Ambroise Pierre, head of the Africa desk for Reporters Without Borders] "They were not moved several times; they were moved once. Exactly where, we cannot say."

"They moved from the city for security reasons," said [Dahir Abdulle Alasow, who runs a Somali news website and the Associated Somali Journalists], in an e-mail from Belgium. "The kidnapper’s chief . . . told one of my colleagues that the Canadian government used what he called GPS and, after the air attack of Saleh Nabhan, they decided to move." link

This is the first news of the kidnapped duo that I have come across for at least two months.

One year ago today, freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan were kidnapped on the outskirts of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The duo are reportedly being held in poor conditions, are in bad health and there is no indication that a release date is any closer one year on. Their Somali colleagues were released in January, 2009. The parents of the two journalists have released a joint statement to mark the one year anniversary,

"Together, the two families continue to work tirelessly to secure Nigel’s and Amanda’s safe release. With little outside support, the families, who have been united as one throughout this horrendous ordeal, continue to do everything and anything to gain the earliest possible release for their loved ones Amanda and Nigel. Our thoughts and all our love are with Amanda and Nigel, today, just as they have been for the past 365 days, and just as they will be until they are safely home with us.

In issuing this brief joint statement the families hope that the media will respect their wishes to be left alone during this particularly emotional time.” link

We continue to update the timeline as and when reports of the kidnapping are published and we feed these reports into the Dipity interactive timeline you can see above. Dipity have very kindly agreed to feature the timeline on their homepage to mark the anniversary.

Xorriyo Airways, which ran flights from Dubai to Berbera in Somaliland, has collapsed. I found this out the hard way. I soon became one of more than 600 people stranded in Somaliland. At 7.40 pm one night the airline office phoned to say the flight had been ‘delayed until further notice’ and if someone did not bring the ticket to the office by 8pm it would become void and there would be no entitlement to a refund. This is Hargeisa where taxis in the suburbs are hard to come by and buses certainly can’t get you from near Mansoor Hotel in Jigjigayar to the downtown city center in less than 20 minutes. My only chance was to get someone who lived near the office to go and negotiate in the meantime.

An official source at Xorriyyo confirmed the next day the airline had collapsed and the priority was to get passengers transferred onto other airlines. The trouble with that useful information was that very few people had been told. Most passengers including those who had already booked their holidays from around the world are still none the wiser. The source alleged that Xorriyo was owned by two cousins who split the company assets causing the airline to go bust. At the peak of the holiday season hundreds of people are stranded in Somaliland. They will probably have to ask relatives and friends to wire them money via Dahabshiil in order to buy new tickets. Dahabshiil money transfer is the unofficial banking system amongst Somalis.

In Somaliland I learned people have to fight for everything. Being obsolete and insisting I had a connecting flight to Doha which I could not miss under any circumstances – seemed to do the trick. This was true, I did have another flight to catch, but if I had not insisted, I may still be there now. I was fortunate to been transferred to Osob Airline but this meant another hot bumpy bus ride to Berbera.

When I got there I heard my flight to Dubai was still stuck in Mogadishu. When it arrived it was carrying several hundred desperate refugees. The airport officials said that they often have injured people with bullets still lodged in them, arriving from Mogadishu.

Although it sounds rough it is a great way to see Somali landscapes and mountains. Several small villages line the way as well as the routine police checkpoints. In one small village we were hailed to stop by a man who was allowed to board the bus and asking for money. He said his name was ‘Ali- Gaabe’ (Ali the Dwarf) and that we should give him money so he could pray for our safe journey. He was a dwarf and people laughed at his audacity and his sense of humour so they paid him and I watched him hailed the second bus in our convoy to make his quick buck.

Xorriyo airline is registered UK company but has not yet officially gone into administration or declared bankruptcy. The travel agent I booked with in London also confirmed its collapse and said I was very lucky to get out as several hundred people are literally stranded there. My thoughts are with them but desperate looks on the faces of the refugees from Mogadishu will haunt me for a long time. Despite waiting three hours for the plane to arrive, I wish I stayed at the airport for just a bit longer. Long enough to hear the stories those families had tell and what horrors they had escaped.

Photograph of Mogadishu refugees at Berbera airport by me

Amanda Lindhout, the Canadian journalist kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008, has reportedly made a plea over the telephone to Omni TV. The heart wrenching plea was broadcast earlier today in Ontario. Lindhout complains of stomach problems, dentistry issues and is worried she may die of illness or be killed by her captives. The kidnappers are thought to be demanding a ransom of between $1 – $1.5 million.

The mother of fellow kidnap victim, Australian freelance photographer Nigel Brennan, recently spoke out in frustration with the lack of progress in the kidnapping case. The duo will mark a full year in captivity on August 23.

The mother of Nigel Brennan, the freelance photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008, has met with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. According to Sky News Heather Brennan made an unexpected approach to Rudd when she approached the PM as he was visiting Queensland today. She spoke with him for twenty minutes,

"These are difficult, sensitive and complex negotiations… (said Rudd) …If I was to look at the consular cases upon which I have spent the most time since I’ve been prime minister, it is this one,’ he said.  ‘It is one which the government takes seriously, but I do not underestimate the degree of difficulty involved in this. It is very hard." link

Meanwhile friends of Nigel Brennan are seriously worried about his health following reports in May and a recent telephone conversation with the kidnap victim,

Family friend Rebecca Hutchins urged the media to give attention to the case.  ‘He is really very, very unwell,’ Ms Hutchins said.  ‘I think mentally he would be in a very dark place and emotionally. Physically that is where the problem is at the moment. He is not well.’  The family spoke to Mr Brennan as recently as Wednesday. link

Please consider taking two minutes to sign the petition to help both Nigel Brennan and Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout who was kidnapped along with Nigel in August, 2008. And link to the petition if you have a blog, twitter account, website or email account.

Image taken from ABC Local News website.

Two French journalists were kidnapped in the Somali capital Mogadishu this morning. Gunmen snatched the duo from the Sahafi Hotel (pictured above) where most journalists stay when visiting. I’ll add more to this post as and when I get information,

Somali gunmen stormed a hotel in the capital Mogadishu and grabbed two French journalists on Tuesday, a hotel worker said.

"Several gunmen entered the Sahafi Hotel, pointed guns at the guards and went into the hotel rooms where they took away the two French nationals," the hotel manager who declined to give name told Reuters.

"The two males told me they were journalists," he added. (Reporting by Abdi Guled; Writing by Wangui Kanina) link originally via a BreakingNews Twitter tip off.

UPDATE: From BBC News,

(10) Gunmen wearing Somali police uniforms turned up at the guest house, seized the two reporters and took them in a vehicle towards a part of the city run by insurgents, said witnesses. link

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting the two "journalists" are in fact security consultants posing as journalists,

A government official, who asked not to be named, said the two French men had been posing as reporters for their own protection.

"They were security consultants who arrived in Somalia to train State House security guards, not journalists," the official said…

… It was not immediately clear who had taken the men, but a pro-government Islamist militia blamed dissident troops.

"Government soldiers who have mutinied were involved in kidnapping the two French citizens," militia spokesman Abdirisak Qeylow told Reuters.

"Negotiation is under way for their release. Maybe they are demanding ransom, I don’t know the exact amount. But we are doing our best for them to be released soon." link

The Telegraph’s Colin Freeman and photographer José Cendón were kidnapped and held for six weeks earlier this year. Meanwhile, freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan after still being held hostage after being kidnapped in Mogadishu in August, 2008. Their driver and fixer were released in January, 2009. This new kidnap comes at a time of "fresh fighting" in the north of Mogadishu, although one could argue fighting never really gets the time to go stale in Mogadishu…

Photo of the Sahafi Hotel by Garas Balley

Freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan remain hostages in Somalia almost one year since they were nabbed on the outskirts of Mogadishu in August, 2008. Despite reports of them both being in a very bad health and of Lindhout reportedly being pregnant, it appears the Australian and Canadian governments refuse to cough up the, by now, pretty pathetic ransom amount of $100,000.

Three days ago I posted a link to an online petition on the @frontlineblog twitter account to help put pressure on the two governments to do something. Now, I’m not the biggest believer in online petitions – in fact I’m a complete cynic – but with few other options left to pressure the authorities into paying – and it is only by paying that they will be released – it’s worth pushing the petition if it can reach its goal of 5,000 signatures.

Unfortunately, if the statistics above are anything to go by, plenty of people have clicked through to the petition link, yet few have bothered to sign it. Less than 50 additional signatures have been added since I posted the link, yet nearly 3,000 people clicked the link. This is a gentle nudge to sign. You just never know, 5,000+ signatures might just help.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, opinions about paying kidnappers in this case are my own, not those of the Frontline Club. Money, and little else, talks in Somalia… In my opinion.