A British man held hostage in Somalia for nearly a week thanked those responsible for his freedom and left the country for Kenya Thursday, a day after his release.
Frans Barnard, who works for British charity Save the Children, was kidnapped from a guest house in the town of Adado on October 14.
A Save the Children spokeswoman, Anna Ford, says local elders helped negotiate Barnard's release.
Ford says no ransom was paid.
A local politician told VOA Somali service that security forces have arrested eight of Barnard's alleged captors.
A Somali man kidnapped along with Barnard was released earlier.
Save the Children said the workers were looking into setting up a program to help sick and malnourished children in Adado, an area near the Somali-Ethiopian border.
Most aid agencies have pulled their foreign staff out of Somalia because of frequent kidnappings and a general lack of security.
The Horn of Africa country has not had a stable central government for nearly two decades.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.