One of the two French security experts abducted in Somalia last month got his freedom from captors on Wednesday and was in the care of the Somali government, said the Somali Information Ministry.

"One of the kidnapped French security advisers for the Somali government is now free and is under the care of the government," Information Minister Dahir Mohamoud Gelle told Xinhua.

Gelle, who declined to comment on how the French hostage managed to get his freedom, said the fact that one of the hostages is now free was "a victory for the Somali government and people".

He said the French national was "fine and healthy".

The Frenchmen who were seized from their hotel room in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in mid July were in Somalia as security advisers for the Somali government's security forces who are battling with Islamist insurgency.

Earlier reports indicated that the French security agent was able to escape after killing three guards from the radical Islamist group of Al-Shabaab which was holding the two French nationals after they changed hands following their abduction.

However, unconfirmed reports said the hostage was released by a splinter group within the Islamist movement holding the French nationals after an unspecified ransom was paid.

The Al-Shabaab, the strongest insurgent movement in Somalia, said after taking over the hostages in late July that they will try the French agents under Islamic law, accusing them of espionage.

Several foreign hostages are still being held in mainly south Somalia where nearly two decades of conflict raged between opposing sides.

(Xinhua News Agency August26, 2009)

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