Somalia: Kidnapped aid worker freed

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A day after his kidnapping by armed bandits in Somalia, local police on Wednesday freed a German aid worker.

The development worker is free and healthy, according to a spokeswoman for German Agro Action, the Bonn-based aid organization the kidnapped man, identified by the press only as Daniel B., was working for in Somalia.

B., another German aid worker, a Somali colleague and their driver were traveling by car to a fishermen's meeting in the northern region of Somaliland when more than 10 heavily armed men fired bullets until the car stopped. B. was dragged into the mountains but was freed Wednesday morning, according to the online version of German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Somalia is in violent chaos since the U.N.-backed transitional government, aided by Ethiopian troops, ousted an Islamic militia from southern and central parts of the country in January 2007. The country hasn't had a functioning government since the 1991 ousting of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. The United Nations on Wednesday announced it would halt for the rest of the week its humanitarian work in Somalia after attacks over the weekend targeted its compound in the capital of Mogadishu.