Kidnappers warn against armed rescue of aid workers
April 15, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The kidnappers of two abducted aid workers have threatened to kill the hostages if the authorities attempt to forcefully release them, despite government claims yesterday that hopes are high for the release of two.
Different sources report conflictingly that the kidnappers are either former janjaweed of the Abbala tribe, Fellata tribesmen or also a group calling itself “Falcons for the Liberation of Africa.”
Speaking to UN radio network Miraya FM via satellite phone, one of the kidnappers said that the security authority in Western Darfur State gave them a 72 hour ultimatum to release the hostages otherwise force will be used against.
The kidnapper reiterated the group’s obscure demand that the French Government directly negotiate with them to fulfil their demand to re-try the French organization “Zoe’s Ark,” a group whose employees were convicted but then pardoned for child abductions in Chad.
Negotiations with the kidnappers are underway, affirmed the Governor of South Darfur State Ali Mahmoud at a press conference today in Khartoum.
Aid worker Claire Dubois was also permitted to speak with Miraya FM, assuring listeners that she and her colleague are both in good health. The hostages were able to speak with Agence France Presse on Sunday.
French hostage Stephanie Jodoin called for a resolution to the situation in order to enable her return to her country.
The Canadian woman and a French woman from the French humanitarian organization Aide Médicale Internationale (AMI) were seized on the night of 4 to 5 April at the compound of the group in Ed El-Fursan in South Darfur.
This is the second kidnapping of foreign aid workers in Darfur in a month. Reports from the region say humanitarian aid workers feel unsafe and ponder about their presence in the troubled region, a situation that is seen as another blow for humanitarian efforts in the country.
Last month the Sudanese authorities ousted some 13 international aid group from the region, a decision that affected the humanitarian situation in Darfur where there are some 2.7 internally displaced persons.
(ST)