Somali gunmen demand $1 mln for aid workers

MOGADISHU, April 20 (Reuters) - Gunmen have demanded a $1 million ransom for the release of three aid workers taken over the weekend, a local elder told Reuters on Monday.

Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous places for aid workers and is suffering one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies, with 3 million people dependent on food aid.

Attacks on relief organisations, normally blamed on Islamist rebels or clan militias, have forced groups to scale back on humanitarian operations.

"We came back this morning with empty hands," said local elder Aden Isak Ali from Rabdhure town, near where gunmen seized a medical team from the charity MSF-Belgium.

"The gunmen who hijacked MSF aid workers told us this morning that they will only release the foreign workers if they are given one million U.S. dollars as ransom," he said.

MSF in Brussels confirmed on Monday two male doctors from Belgium and Holland had been kidnapped. A local MSF worker said a Somali employee was also taken.

"We have witness confirmation that they have been kidnapped," an MSF official said.

In a separate attack, masked gunmen killed a former local employee of CARE International in the central town of Merka at the weekend. The charity suspended all activities in south-central Somalia late last year due to threats. link..