Despite the efforts of the Kenyan Coast Guard and police, Frenchwoman Marie Dedieu, 66, who was kidnapped from Manda Island earlier today, has been taken to Somalia by a group of gunmen. As indicated in my posting earlier today, Ms. Dedieu is disabled, fighting cancer and in need of essential daily medications. Ironically, Dedieu was kidnapped not far from where British tourist, Judith Tebbutt, was kidnapped a few weeks ago.
COMMENT: Dedieu is a retired French journalist who spends more than half of the year at a house she had bought on Manda, one of a string of islands of the Lamu archipelago off Kenya's northern Indian Ocean coast. She had just returned from a summer trip to France on Friday (September 30), which suggests that someone may have been keeping track of her movements.
At least 10 armed gunmen landed two small speedboats on Manda's main beach at 0300 on Saturday, converging on Dedieu's thatch-walled house looking for the Frenchwoman. George Lepapa ole Moiyio, Ms. Dedieu's 39-year-old Kenyan partner, told how the gunmen fired at him as he ran for help. Dedieu was then dragged down to the beach, thrown over the shoulders of one of the kidnappers and put into one of the speedboats, according to a nightwatchmen.
By mid-afternoon, Kenyan forces had found the boat with the gang and the Frenchwoman still on board, with the result being that the Coast Guard and an army helicopter gave chase. Despite an exchange of gunfire between the Kenyans and the gunmen, the latter were successful in getting their captive into Somalia.
The attack is the second in less than a month targeting foreigners staying on the string of islands which make up the archipelago south of the border with Somalia. Gunmen kidnapped Judith Tebbutt, a 56-year-old social worker from Bishop's Stortford, after killing her husband, David, 58, during a midnight raid on their luxury beachfront lodge, 30 miles north of where the most recent attack took place. No ransom demand has yet publicly been made for Dedieu's release. Tebbutt was kidnapped from the much more remote Kiwayu Safari Village, which lies 30 miles through mangrove channels to the north of Lamu and Manda Islands.
The French government yesterday revised its travel advice for Kenya, warning its citizens against visiting Lamu. Britain's advice remains unchanged, warning only to avoid areas within 40 miles of the border with Somalia, an area which does not include Manda or Lamu islands. Personally, I believe that both the French and British warnings still place foreigners within the reach of Somalian gunmen which is why I believe than a minimum of sixty (60) miles should be considered.
COMMENT: Dedieu is a retired French journalist who spends more than half of the year at a house she had bought on Manda, one of a string of islands of the Lamu archipelago off Kenya's northern Indian Ocean coast. She had just returned from a summer trip to France on Friday (September 30), which suggests that someone may have been keeping track of her movements.
At least 10 armed gunmen landed two small speedboats on Manda's main beach at 0300 on Saturday, converging on Dedieu's thatch-walled house looking for the Frenchwoman. George Lepapa ole Moiyio, Ms. Dedieu's 39-year-old Kenyan partner, told how the gunmen fired at him as he ran for help. Dedieu was then dragged down to the beach, thrown over the shoulders of one of the kidnappers and put into one of the speedboats, according to a nightwatchmen.
By mid-afternoon, Kenyan forces had found the boat with the gang and the Frenchwoman still on board, with the result being that the Coast Guard and an army helicopter gave chase. Despite an exchange of gunfire between the Kenyans and the gunmen, the latter were successful in getting their captive into Somalia.
The attack is the second in less than a month targeting foreigners staying on the string of islands which make up the archipelago south of the border with Somalia. Gunmen kidnapped Judith Tebbutt, a 56-year-old social worker from Bishop's Stortford, after killing her husband, David, 58, during a midnight raid on their luxury beachfront lodge, 30 miles north of where the most recent attack took place. No ransom demand has yet publicly been made for Dedieu's release. Tebbutt was kidnapped from the much more remote Kiwayu Safari Village, which lies 30 miles through mangrove channels to the north of Lamu and Manda Islands.
The French government yesterday revised its travel advice for Kenya, warning its citizens against visiting Lamu. Britain's advice remains unchanged, warning only to avoid areas within 40 miles of the border with Somalia, an area which does not include Manda or Lamu islands. Personally, I believe that both the French and British warnings still place foreigners within the reach of Somalian gunmen which is why I believe than a minimum of sixty (60) miles should be considered.
