Somali minister kidnapped in Uganda

english.aljazeera.net...



"Somalia's state minister for defence has been kidnapped in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, according to relatives and government sources.



Sheikh Yusuf Mohammad Siad, also known as Indaade, was seized from a house where members of his family had been staying on Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported.


Few details of the abduction were immediately available.

Uganda supplies about half of the African Union peacekeeping force working in Somalia.


'Unclear reasons'

Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan army spokesman, told Reuters the minister had come "for unclear reasons and we took an interest in him".

Somali government officials and Siad's relatives had earlier said they believed he had been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

Awad Ashareh, a Somali parliamentary spokesman, told Al Jazeera: "We have been informed by the Somali embassy in Uganda that the minister was not kidnapped at all and the ambassador told me [Siad] is in good hands".

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since regional commanders overthrew Mohamed Siad Barre, a former dictator, in 1991, before turning on each other."