(20 Apr 2009)
1. Tilt down exterior of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Belgium offices
2. Close-up MSF sign
3. Mid of Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director of MSF Belgium
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director MSF Belgium:
"Yesterday, Sunday afternoon we lost contact with one of our teams, our medical teams in the Bakool region, it's the central part of Somalia, bordering with Ethiopia. We now have witnesses who say that they did see two of our colleagues being stopped and being taken by unidentified armed group. At present we have no information on the circumstances, nor the reasons behind this kidnapping. We do know it's one of our Belgian colleagues and one of our Dutch colleagues, so at present that is all the information we have on the kidnapping of our colleagues."
5. Cutaway hands
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director MSF Belgium:
"So far we have not had any contact directly with the kidnappers nor with our colleagues. Obviously, we are in contact with the all actors potentially that we could be in contact with, in the regions. "
7. Cutaway MSF poster on wall
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director MSF Belgium:
"There have been kidnappings last year, there were kidnappings in a different region of Somalia but in the region in which this happened, this incident yesterday happened, it's a region which is not considered being an unstable region, we've been there since 2000 and we've never had any type of incident of this sort before."
9. Cutaway midshot
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director MSF Belgium:
"For sure Somalia is a very high risk country. The humanitarian situation is getting worse and worse every year, it's getting worse and worse. There are less and less humanitarian actors, population doesn't have access to health, doesn't have access to food, so for sure all the indicators are there to make it quite a volatile environment."
11. Midshot of de Leval
STORYLINE:
The Belgian chapter of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) confirmed on Monday that two of their medical staff, one Belgian and one Dutch, have been kidnapped in Somalia.
The relief agency had said on Sunday that they lost contact with their staff in the Bakool region and they were considered missing.
But since then witnesses have come forward to say that they saw the aid workers being taken away by armed men, said Fabienne de Leval, Deputy General Director of MSF Belgium.
Speaking from the organisation's Brussels headquarters, de Leval said they have not been able as yet to establish contacts with the kidnappers or their staff and that it was still unclear what the motive of the kidnapping was.
The capture of aid workers has long been a common problem in Somalia, often motivated by kidnappers demanding ransoms.
There is no indication that such kidnappings are linked to a recent surge in piracy off Somalia.
But the lucrative ransoms pirates have received from ship owners may have emphasised the value of foreigners as hostages in a country where nearly half the population is dependent on foreign aid.
But not all attacks on aid workers are financially motivated.
Some are political: the government has accused them of helping insurgents and the insurgents have accused them of being spies.
According to the United Nations, a total of 35 aid workers were killed in Somalia in 2008 and 26 abducted.
MSF has around 1,500 staff members in Somalia, mostly Somali nationals.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991.
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