French Woman Abducted From Kenyan Resort By Suspected Pirates

Suspected Somali pirates have kidnapped an elderly French woman from an exclusive resort island in northern Kenya, near the Somali border.

Kenya's tourism minister, Najib Balala, says Kenyan coastguard boats are pursuing the pirates and trying to arrest them at sea.

The kidnapping is the second in three weeks at Manda Island, an upscale vacation destination.

In early September, Somali pirates shot dead a British man and fled with his wife as a hostage back across the Somali border in what is beleived to be a kidnapping for ransom.

The identity of the Frenchwoman, who was kidnapped overnight from the house she owns on Manda island, has not been made public.

compiled from agency reports