By Ibrahim Mohamed and Mohamed Abdi
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali gunmen on Tuesday kidnappedtwo contractors, a Briton and a Kenyan, working for aU.N.-funded project in southern Somalia, the United Nationssaid.
Local militias were pursuing the kidnappers in the hope offreeing the captives, residents said, and local clan elderswere pressing the gunmen to release the two men.
"Two foreign nationals -- a Briton and a Kenyan -- wereabducted this morning by unknown gunmen between Saakow andBu'aale in Middle Juba," the U.N. country office for Somaliasaid in a statement.
The two work for Genesys International Corporation Ltd ofBangalore, India, which has been hired by the U.N. Food andAgriculture Organisation to carry out a survey of the Juba andShabelle rivers, the statement said.
It did not give their names. A call to Genesys offices inBangalore was not answered.
"Witnesses on the ground say there was gunfire when the menwere taken, but there is no information to suggest that anyserious injury was sustained by either man," it said, referringto reports that one of the men had been wounded.
The two are being held in or near the town of Jilib, and"clan elders and community leaders who do not condone suchabductions are putting pressure on the perpetrators to releasethe men," the statement said.
Local elders and militiamen pursued the kidnappers towardJilib district, 280 km (175 miles) south of Mogadishu.
"These foreign men have been in Sakow for three days, thereis no tight administration there and they have not contacted usover their security. We are just trying our best to free themsafely," regional chairman Ibrahim Noleye said.
Kidnapping is a lucrative business for Somali criminals,who usually treat their captives well, seeing them asinvestments on which they expect to earn a good return in theform of ransom.
But kidnapping is relatively rare in southern Somalia asthe region is too dangerous for most aid workers. Mostabductions for ransom in the past year have taken place in thesafer northern parts of Somalia, which are relatively stable.
(Additional reporting by Aweys Yusuf in Mogadishu andBryson Hull in Nairobi; editing by Tim Pearce)
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