Cuba, Kenya working together on return of kidnapped doctors

KENYATA|CANEL|KIDNAP|ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS

Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Friday that he had spoken by phone with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta about two Cuban doctors kidnapped in Kenya last year.

President Diaz-Canel said both sides reconfirmed their willingness to work together towards the safe return of the kidnapped health professionals. 

"I had a fruitful telephone conversation with the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, where we exchanged information on bilateral and multilateral agenda issues. We confirm that we will continue working together to achieve the safe return of Landy and Assel to the Homeland," Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.

The conversation took place a year after Assel Herrera, a specialist in comprehensive general medicine and Landy Rodriguez Hernandez, a specialist in surgery, were kidnapped by Somali Islamic extremists in northern Kenya on April 12, 2019.

The director general of Press, Communication, and Image at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Juan Antonio Fernandez, denied on Wednesday reports on social media announcing the alleged release of both doctors, although he said the Cuban government is closely following the issue.