WFP welcomes release of food agency`s chief in Somalia

"We welcome the release of Idris Osman, and are pleased that he will be reunited with his family," WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

The Rome-based agency had condemned Osman`s seizure and detention by the Somali National Security Service at a UN compound in the capital and called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Osman "is safely back in the office," a UN official told AFP in Mogadishu, adding, "He was brought by some government officers as well as local UN staffers."

A Somali security official also confirmed the release.