lennart
10-02-04, 22:41
Somali captors 'wanted commander'
Somali militiamen who abducted a United Nations official for 10 days apparently wanted him to be their commander.
Rolf Helmrich, a former lieutenant-colonel in the German Air Force, said the gunmen were impressed with his military knowledge while in captivity.
About a dozen armed militia abducted Mr Helmrich last month at a roadblock near the southern town of Jilib.
Somalia has been dangerous territory for UN and other aid workers throughout its 12 years of civil war.
Sleeping with grenades
"It was funny in a way - the hostage takers wanted me to be their commander," Mr Helmrich told reporters at the UN headquarters in Nairobi, where he was flown after his release.
He identified one of their assault rifles as an East German-made AK-47 and could distinguish different types of rocket-propelled grenades in their arsenal.
Mr Helmrich said the militia in turn showed him that grenades have multiple uses.
"I was sleeping on a mat and the corners kept blowing up in the wind, so they gave me grenades to weigh it down," Mr Helmrich, a UN security officer, said.
The UN official spent his entire captivity in the open air, walking some 50km by his own estimate.
"I never saw a house, I never saw a bed, I never saw a toilet in the 10 days," he said.
Last weekend he was released into the hands of four members of the Juba Valley Alliance, a military grouping that controls south-western Somalia.
UN humanitarian co-ordinator Maxwell Gaylard said the body has withdrawn staff from south-western Somalia and is reassessing UN operating policies in light of the abduction.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3477581.stm
Grappig ... als het niet zo ernstig was.
Somali militiamen who abducted a United Nations official for 10 days apparently wanted him to be their commander.
Rolf Helmrich, a former lieutenant-colonel in the German Air Force, said the gunmen were impressed with his military knowledge while in captivity.
About a dozen armed militia abducted Mr Helmrich last month at a roadblock near the southern town of Jilib.
Somalia has been dangerous territory for UN and other aid workers throughout its 12 years of civil war.
Sleeping with grenades
"It was funny in a way - the hostage takers wanted me to be their commander," Mr Helmrich told reporters at the UN headquarters in Nairobi, where he was flown after his release.
He identified one of their assault rifles as an East German-made AK-47 and could distinguish different types of rocket-propelled grenades in their arsenal.
Mr Helmrich said the militia in turn showed him that grenades have multiple uses.
"I was sleeping on a mat and the corners kept blowing up in the wind, so they gave me grenades to weigh it down," Mr Helmrich, a UN security officer, said.
The UN official spent his entire captivity in the open air, walking some 50km by his own estimate.
"I never saw a house, I never saw a bed, I never saw a toilet in the 10 days," he said.
Last weekend he was released into the hands of four members of the Juba Valley Alliance, a military grouping that controls south-western Somalia.
UN humanitarian co-ordinator Maxwell Gaylard said the body has withdrawn staff from south-western Somalia and is reassessing UN operating policies in light of the abduction.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3477581.stm
Grappig ... als het niet zo ernstig was.