The two foreigners kidnapped on Tuesday in Mogadishu are not journalists but French agents who were invited to train Somali intelligence officers, a government official said.

"They are not journalists, the two work for the French government. They were invited by the defence ministry to do some training for their counterparts in the Somali intelligence services," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"They have been in Somalia nine days," the official added, without elaborating on the pair's identity.