MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – A local governor says two German hostages have been freed in Somalia.

Muse Geele Yusuf, the governor of Bari region, said the hostages were released Friday night.

They had been held since June in a mountainous area near Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northern Somalia.

The Germans were kidnapped from a French yacht as it sailed along the Gulf of Aden. Piracy is rampant off Somalia’s lawless coast.

The country has not had an effective central government since 1991.

AP-ES-08-09-08 0227EDT