The World : Medics Captive in Somalia

Ten members of a French medical team, including six women, were kidnaped by armed men at the Tug Wajale refugee camp in northern Somalia near the Ethiopian border, according to Francis Chardon, director of the medical relief organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). The identity of the kidnapers was not clear, Chardon added, but they reportedly told witnesses that no harm would come to the captives and that the operation was carried out for publicity. Chardon said that the medical team--two doctors, six nurses and two technical assistants--had been in Somalia for 10 months. The camp serves about 32,000 people, mostly political refugees from Ethiopia.