Four aid workers from the French relief group Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger) have been released in Somalia after being held hostage for nine months, the French presidency said Tuesday, AFP informed.

Somali gunmen had seized the two French women, a Belgian and a Bulgarian last November in an area bordering Ethiopia, along with two Kenyan pilots who were accompanying them.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was pleased and relieved by the news that the four aid workers and two pilots were now free, said a statement from the Elysee presidential palace.