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Kidnapped Italian nuns released Kidnapped Italian nuns released
(about 2 hours later)
Two Italian nuns kidnapped in Kenya three months ago and then held in neighbouring Somalia have been freed, Italy's foreign ministry has said. Two Italian nuns kidnapped in Kenya three months ago and then held in neighbouring Somalia have been freed, the Italian prime minister has said.
Gunmen abducted Maria Teresa Olivero and Caterina Giraudo on 10 November in the northern Kenyan district of Mandera and then took them across the border.Gunmen abducted Maria Teresa Olivero and Caterina Giraudo on 10 November in the northern Kenyan district of Mandera and then took them across the border.
The women, in their 60s, had been working with the poor on hunger and health programmes in Kenya. The women, in their 60s, were working on hunger and health programmes.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991. PM Silvio Berlusconi said the two Roman Catholic nuns were now at the Italian embassy in Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters on Thursday the two Roman Catholic nuns were now at the Italian embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "Their morale is up," he told reporters, according to the Associated Press news agency.
'Morale up' Italian state TV broadcast a telephone interview with Ms Giraudo, in which she said the affection of Kenyans "provided us with comfort after these days of suffering", AP reported.
"Their morale is up," he said, according to the Associated Press. Following the nuns' abduction, Pope Benedict XVI expressed concern about their fate.
Following the nuns' abduction, Pope Benedict XVI had expressed concern about their fate. In the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping there were conflicting reports about how the two had been taken away.
In the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping there were conflicting reports about how the nuns had been taken away.
A local aid worker said the women had been seized in the midst of a shoot-out at a church, while the Kenyan Red Cross said the pair had been taken hostage at their home.A local aid worker said the women had been seized in the midst of a shoot-out at a church, while the Kenyan Red Cross said the pair had been taken hostage at their home.
It was reported at the time that the two, who had lived in Kenya for years, were snatched at the border town of El Wak, about 400 miles (645km) north-east of Nairobi.
It is not clear who was behind the abductions.
North-eastern Kenya is inhabited by ethnic Somalis, and there are frequent clashes over access to land and water in the area.
In Somalia, armed gangs have kidnapped and killed a number of aid workers, while there have also been repeated attacks on Catholic targets.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991. Islamist rebels are in control of most of the country.