Mogadishu - Unknown gunmen shot dead the head of the United Nations' Development Programme as he left a mosque near his home in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said Monday.

Mogadis

Mogadishu  - Somali pirates are demanding 2 million dollars for the release of a German couple seized off the lawless Horn of Africa nation's coast, an intermediary in the negotiations said Tuesday.

Pirates abducted the couple on June 23 as they sailed through the Gulf of Aden on a trip from Egypt to Thailand.

The kidnappers then abandoned the yacht on the shore and disappeared into a nearby mountainous area with their hostages.

While the couple are in good health and being treated well, the man suffers from diabetes and has not had access to insulin for several days, the intermediary told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Nairobi, Mogadishu - Gunmen have abducted two people working for the United Nations' mine action programme in

Mogadishu - Pirates have released the Turkey-flagged cargo ship MV Arean which was seized off the lawless Somali coast at the end of May but a German ship seized at the same time is still being hel