Mogadishu, (insidesomalia.org) - The Governor of Puntland state regional Authority condemned the kidnap of a French journalist on Sunday by freelance militias in the Northern Somalia.

General Mohamed Muses Hirsh, speaking to the local Puntland state legislators in Growe, the official site of Puntland administration said that the kidnap was behind by ‘Those who are adjacent to the development of Puntland’ and will be brought before the justice” Said General Muse.

Negotiations are underway to release the kidnapped French journalist Gwen Le Gouil. He is fine and safe, says Yusuf Moumin Bidde, deputy governor speaking to the Associated Press.

Puntland Authority sent a group of elders and officials to Mareer, 34km from Boosaaso where the French journalist was held in captivity to negotiate with his captors reported demanded 70,000 US Dollars as ransom.

The gunmen ordered some of the elders to keep away from the surrounding areas where the journalist is being kept hostage, threatening to kill the elders, said Abifatah Jeyte a local reporter in Boosaaso.

Le Gouil was covering a story on trafficking in illegal migrants especially Mareer, a town just few kilometres outside the port city of Boosaaso, the main departure point for ten of thousands of Somalis who pay smugglers to ferry them across the Gulf of Aden.

The immigrants’ destination is Yemen and onwards to Gulf Arab states. The journey is a dangerous which has claimed almost 1,212 Somali would-be immigrant this year.

The would-be immigrants sought for a safe heaven from the escalating fighting in Mogadishu and for better life.

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