Somali insurgents loot U.N. compounds

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen from Somalia's al Shabaab group looted two United Nations compounds Monday after the al Qaeda-linked militants said they would shut down three U.N. agencies operating in the Horn of Africa nation.

Al Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu. The group is fighting government troops and African Union peacekeepers to impose its own harsh version of sharia law throughout Somalia.

It said UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), UNDSS (United Nations Department of Safety and Security) and UNPOS (United Nations Political Office for Somalia) were working against Somali Muslims and the establishment of an Islamic state.

The compounds targeted were in Baidoa, the seat of Somalia's parliament before insurgents seized the town, and the World Food Programme's (WFP) compound in Wajid in the Bakool region.

"In Baidoa, the looting of all emergency communication equipment and the lack of security officers makes it impossible for the United Nations as a whole to continue its operations, the U.N. said in a statement.

A U.N. official said expatriate staff in Baidoa were being evacuated to neighbouring Kenya. The official said operations in Wajid would continue as minimum security conditions had not been affected and security staff were still present.

Al Shabaab said other non-governmental organizations and foreign agencies operating in Somalia should contact the administration in their area and they would be informed of the conditions and restrictions on their work.

FRENCH CAPTIVES MAY FACE TRIAL

Although the government led by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has voted to implement sharia law in Somalia, al Shabaab says it does not recognise the administration that was formed under a U.N.-hosted peace process in neighbouring Djibouti this year.

Neighbours and Western nations fear that if al Shabaab succeeds in toppling the government, Somalia will serve as a safe haven for hardline militants to train and destabilise the region, or launch attacks in Western nations.

There is increasing international concern at an influx of hundreds of Islamist fighters into Somalia -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf region, and some western nations including the United States and Britain.

A spate of kidnappings has also heightened worries about the deteriorating security situation in Somalia.

Last week, two French security officials were kidnapped in Mogadishu and handed over to al Shabaab. Three foreign aid workers were seized in Kenya Saturday and taken to Somalia.

While al Shabaab has said it is working to secure the release of the aid workers, a spokesman said the French captives may face trial by an Islamic court.

"The French security men were part of the fighting," said Hassan Yacqub, al Shabaab spokesman in the port of Kismayu.

"The men are prisoners of war and the mujahideen will decide the next steps we are to take. To kill them, or claim a ransom on their heads, are possible and legal."

(Editing by David Clarke and Mark Trevelyan)