A French security adviser seized by Islamist militants in Somalia has escaped his captors, officials say.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman, who was kidnapped from a hotel in Mogadishu along with a colleague last month, reportedly killed three militants as he made his escape.<\/p>\n
Nothing is known of the fate of the second hostage, who may have been held by a different rebel faction.<\/p>\n
The pair were part of a team training government forces, who are battling the rebels for control of the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the interim government, Abdulkadir Hussein Wehliye, said the man who escaped was in the presidential palace and “in a good mood”.<\/p>\n
Police official Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters the man killed three of the militants who were guarding him.<\/p>\n
“I cannot understand how this good story happened but now he is in the hands of the government,” he said.<\/p>\n
Islamist rebels from al-Shabab and its ally Hizbul-Islam control much of southern Somalia.<\/p>\n
Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda and have been reinforced by foreign fighters.<\/p>\n
Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991.<\/p>\n
Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.<\/p>\n
He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n