The militant Islamist insurgent movement Hizbul Islam is holding two kidnapped French security advisers, a senior police officer said today.
Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters a unit within the Somali government security forces took the men on Tuesday, before handing them to Hizbul Islam which was now arguing with another militant rebel group, al Shabaab, over their fate.
"Al Shabaab wants to take the French men from Hizbul Islam, they are on the verge of fighting," said the high-ranking member of Mogadishu's police force.
"Al Shabaab wants to kill the Frenchmen and Hizbul Islam refuses. The situation is not good. There can be no question of a ransom at such time."
With Islamist rebels battling government troops on a daily basis, Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It has a history of kidnappings of foreigners, mainly aid-workers and journalists.
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 yesterday and went door-to-door until they found them.
The police officer said a government minister with close links to the rebels was behind the abduction. A prominent NGO has repeated that allegation.
The government has not responded specifically to that accusation.
Reuters