Somalia's Commerce minister, Abdisamad Yusuf Mohammed, announced earlier today that two female aid workers kidnapped by rebels on Boxing Day have been released and are recovering from their ordeal at an hotel in Bossasu in the north of the country.

Spanish Foreign Affairs minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, has since confirmed that Spanish doctor, Mercedes García (archive photo), and Argentinian nurse, Pilar Bauza, are in good health and will return to their homes on Friday.

The kidnappers had demanded $250,000 US for the women's release, but Mr Moratinos was at pains to stress that no ransom had been paid.

The news has since also been confirmed by a representative from the Medicos sin Fronteras (MSF) aid agency for which the two women work.

Spanish aid worker snatched by Somali rebels
By: thinkSPAIN
Friday, December 28, 2007

Somali security forces are hunting for the gang which kidnapped a Spanish doctor and an Argentinian nurse who work for the Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) aid agency. Dr Mercedes García, who is from the town of Cuadros (León), and Pilar Bauza were snatched near the northern port of Bossasso in the Puntlandia region last Wednesday.

A spokesman for Puntlandia Information ministry, Abdulrahman Bankah, has said that the two women are still alive, and Somali prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, has sent a "message of hope" to Spanish Foreign Affairs minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

For his part, MSF's Spanish spokesman, Javier Sancho, has said that the organisation he represents has suspended activity, and is considering withdrawing from the troubled Horn of Africa country, if there is no improvement in the security situation.

Last Monday, the rebels released French journalist, Gwen Le Gouil, who was captured on the 16th December while filming a documentary about refugee smuggling activity. Local police deny that any ransom had been paid.