Uganda's military spokesman said Ugandan security forces detained Somalia's state minister for defence on Tuesday in the capital Kampala, and that he had not been kidnapped by gunmen as relatives had reported.

"It is true. He is in our hands. He came here for unclear reasons and we picked an interest in him. You can't come here as a high profile person without notice," Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye told Reuters. He declined to give more details.

Reuters