US journalist still captive in Somalia

Jan 23, 2012, 9:46 GMT

Nairobi - An abducted American journalist was still being held captive in Somalia on Monday, despite some media reports claiming he had been released.

Michael Scott Moore was kidnapped by armed men on Saturday near Galkayo, a town in central Somalia split between the breakaway states of Galmudug and Puntland.

News site Somalia Report on Sunday said elders had negotiated Scott Moore's release, but later retracted the story.

Scott Moore, who grew up in California, has lived in Berlin since 2006, where he moved on a Fulbright scholarship. He is the author of Sweetness and Blood, a story of how surfing spread from California to Asia and Africa.

He has been freelancing for Der Spiegel and US publications.

Some reports have suggested Scott Moore also holds German nationality, but this has not been confirmed. His author biography refers to him as American, but Scott Moore's website www.radiofreemike.com says his mother was German.

Neither the US nor German embassies in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, which deal with Somalia, have commented on the kidnapping.

Scott Moore spent time in Nairobi prior to heading to Galkayo, and he is believed to have travelled in order to write a book on piracy in Somalia.

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