Charity pleads for release of aid worker in Somalia

The aid agency confirmed that a Somali national who was also taken from a guesthouse compound in Adado, a small town close to the border with Ethiopia, has been released unharmed.

A spokeswoman said: "The other man abducted at the same time - a British national who was born in Zimbabwe - remains captive.

"Save the Children is extremely concerned for his welfare and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

"The two men were working with Save the Children whilst the agency carried out a feasibility assessment into setting up a programme to help sick and malnourished children and their families in the area."

Save the Children said it had not been contacted by the kidnappers.

Tensions are running high in the lawless region, where armed forces include pirate gangs and factions of militias allied to the government. Kidnapping for ransom is not uncommon in the area, though hostages are usually released unharmed.

The stricken Horn of Africa nation has been beset by famine and years of fighting between rival warlords, leading to thousands of deaths.

It has had no functioning central government for nearly 20 years. But the western part of the country had been considered one of its safer areas.

Though most aid agencies have pulled out of the region, some had recently considered a return.

Save the Children has been working in Somalia for more than 40 years, with a focus on improving access to food, basic healthcare and education.

Its work has been limited by the security situation, but this year it began to pool resources with two other branches of the International Save the Children Alliance - Denmark and Finland - to become a unified presence in the country.

A friend of the British consultant described him as an avid skier and mountaineer who once lived in Canada and had worked for humanitarian organisations for several years.