Nairobi- Somali gunmen on Thursday shot and killed an aid worker with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the second in three days, as he distributed aid near Mogadishu, the agency said.

"Unknown gunmen shot and killed him during a food distribution at Daynile, 10 kilometres north-west of Mogadishu," Nairobi-based WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"They then put his body in a WFP vehicle and drove off, shortly before pushing his body from vehicle and driving away," he added.

Mogadishu - A British reporter and a Spanish photographer were released Sunday after 40 days' captivity in Somalia's semi- autonomous Puntland region, officials said.

Colin Freeman, who worked for Britain's Sunday Telegraph and freelance photographer Jose Cendon were in Puntland covering a surge in piracy off Somalia when they were seized from the port town of Bosasso.

"The two western journalists were released this morning and they are now in a hotel in Bosasso," Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, a senior advisor to the Puntland president, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Kampala  - Uganda warned Saturday it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia as Islamist forces appeared to begin seizing territory left unguarded by departing Ethiopian forces.

"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 to help kick out hardline regime the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).

Kampala  - Uganda warned Saturday that it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia as Ethiopia pulls its forces out after a two-year occupation of the conflict-stricken nation.

"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 to help kick out the hardline Islamic Courts Union (ICU) regime.

After two years of battling a bloody insurgency and watching the government it backed fall apart, Ethiopia is now cutting its losses.

Mogadishu - Dozens of trucks full of Ethiopian soldiers and their belongings left the Somali capital Mogadishu Friday as Ethiopia began to withdraw from its neighbour after a two-year occupation.

Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 to help kick out the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) - a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months.

They have spent the last two years battling a resultant insurgency in Southern and Central Somalia.

Mogadishu  - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned amid an internal power struggle Monday after failing to bring peace to the Horn of Africa nation, which has been wracked by conflict for the past 17 years.

"Today I resign the post that you elected me to on October 14, 2004," Yusuf told lawmakers in Baidoa, the seat of the Somali parliament.

"I stated at that time that there were three options ... I will overcome the crises, continue the post until my death or resign if I can't continue."