Somalia minister held in Uganda

Somalia's junior minister for defence has been detained by Ugandan security forces during a trip to capital, Kampala, the Ugandan army has said.

Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a former Islamist warlord known as Inda'ade, was held while visiting family in the city.

Ugandan army spokesman Lt Col Felix Kulayigye told Reuters news agency the minister had come "for unclear reasons and we took an interest in him".

Uganda provides many of the troops for the African Union Mission to Somalia.

Somali government officials and Mr Siad's relatives had earlier said they believed he had been kidnapped by unknown gunmen, but the Somali ambassador in Kampala later confirmed to Reuters that he was aware the minister was in Ugandan custody.

"We want to know what happened, but it seems to have something to do with legal papers," Siid Ahmed said.

According to the Somali ambassador to Uganda the visit was unofficial, to allow the minister to see his family.

Islamist past

Mr Siad was apparently bundled into a car, but the reason for the arrest of such a high-profile dignitary is far from clear, says the BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut.

The answer may lie in Mr Siad's past.

He was previously a member of Hizbul-Islam - an Islamist group that has been fighting the Somali government, which is itself supported by Ugandan peacekeeping troops attached to the African Union force in Somalia.

But earlier this year he defected to the Somali government and was appointed to the defence portfolio.

Uganda has been losing men to attacks by Islamists in recent months.

For a senior Somali with a recent Islamist past to arrive, apparently unannounced, in their capital may have raised all sorts of questions in the minds of Ugandan security officials, our Africa editor adds.

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991.

It was hoped the election of moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad as president in January and the departure of Ethiopian troops would stop the violence, but Islamist insurgents are keeping up their attacks and the government's military position has weakened further.

Mr Siad, who became minister of state for defence in June, served as head of security under Mr Ahmad when he briefly governed Somalia as chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006.