* Frans Barnard reunited with his family
* Thanks those involved in his release
(Adds charity statement; previous MOGADISHU)
NAIROBI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A British contractor released earlier this week by his Somali kidnappers arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday, where he was reunited with his family.
Frans Barnard, a security consultant, had been working with the UK-based charity Save the Children in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation when he was abducted last week together with a local colleague, Bashiir Yusuf.
Shortly after landing, Barnard was ushered to a car with tinted windows and whisked away without talking to journalists.
In a statement released by the aid group, Barnard&${esc.hash}39;s family said they were deeply grateful for the efforts of the clan elders who helped negotiate his release from the militia fighters.
"We are incredibly relieved that first Bashiir and then Frans were released unharmed," said the statement.
Officials in central Somalia said Barnard was released by his captors on Tuesday about 250 km (150 miles) from the town of Adado where he was seized last Thursday.
Before boarding a flight out of Somalia, Barnard said he was pleased to be free.
"We are happy that Barnard left Adado in good condition and we are very sorry that he had been kidnapped in our territory," the president of Adado, Mohamed Aden Tiicey, told Reuters by telephone. (Reporting by Ibrahim Mohamed in Mogadishu, Humphrey Malalo in Nairobi and Michael Holden in London; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Charles Dick)
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