2 Aid Workers Kidnaped in Somalia; Peacekeeper Slain

Gunmen kidnaped two Italian aid workers Sunday, and an Egyptian peacekeeper was killed and another wounded in an ambush of their military convoy.

Maj. Chris Budge, a U.N. spokesman, said aid workers Sergio Passatore and Gianfranco Stefan were kidnaped at Jowhar, about 50 miles north of Mogadishu. They were believed to be working for the Italian charity European Committee for Agricultural Training.

The Egyptians were attacked on the bypass road linking U.N. headquarters in Mogadishu with the airport and port, both U.N. military and supply bases. The road was built by U.S. Army engineers so U.N. vehicles could avoid routes through Mogadishu that are more vulnerable to attack.

In Rome, Sen. Carmelo Azzara said the captors of the aid workers demanded $50,000 in ransom. Negotiations were under way to obtain their release, he said.

The taking of the two Italians was the fifth kidnaping since January as U.S. troops and Western allies who took part in the U.N. peacekeeping force pull out.

It was the latest in a series of incidents affecting Italian troops and relief workers in the former Italian colony.

The attack raised the casualty toll for U.N. peacekeepers to 81 dead and 329 wounded since the United Nations took over the humanitarian mission from an American-led military coalition last May.

Elsewhere, a clan spokesman in southern Somalia said weekend battles between rival clans had killed 60 people and forced more than 5,000 to flee the southern port of Kismayu.