( CNN ) -- Somali gunmen on Wednesday released a British aid worker kidnapped last week while working for Save the Children . The aid worker , named as Zimbabwe-born Frans Barnard , was freed after tribal elders negotiated with his captors , Save the Children confirmed . Barnard was safe and well and had been moved to a more secure place in Somalia , Save the Children said in a statement . No ransom had been paid by the organization to secure Barnard 's release , it said . `` Save the Children 's policy is not to pay ransoms and we did not pay a ransom to secure Fran 's release . The release was negotiated by the clan elders and we are extremely grateful to them , '' Save the Children said . `` We believe Frans was abducted by an independent group of criminals with no political affiliation or support from other groups in the region . '' Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth earlier told BBC radio Barnard had been looked after by his kidnappers . `` He is well , he is in good spirits and he is on his way to a place of safety , '' he said . British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed news of Barnard 's release and said the government had been in close contact with Save the Children . `` Let me praise the professionalism of Save the Children and also thank the Somali clan members who were involved in his release , '' Cameron told lawmakers . `` I 'm sure it will be good for him to be back with his family after what must have been a very , very frightening and difficult few days . '' Barnard was kidnapped along with a Somali aid worker from a guesthouse compound in the town of Adado , near the Ethiopian border , last Thursday . The Somali national was released soon afterwards . Save the Children is an international organization based in the United Kingdom . It works to improve the lives of children worldwide . The group said it had been assessing the feasibility of starting up an humanitarian program to help malnourished and sick children and their families in the area . Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991 , and fighting between rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country .
Ethiopian aid worker Barnard released by gunmen in Adado . Frans Barnard 's release was negotiated by tribal elders . CNN says no ransom was paid to the kidnappers .