Sudan will not pay ransom to free abducted aid workers

October 6, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government said today it has no intentions of paying a ransom to free two female aid workers abducted in Darfur last July.

Two women working with the Irish GOAL, Hilda Kawuki, 42, from Uganda, and Sharon Commins, 32, from Ireland were kidnapped from their compound in North Darfur town of Kutum by six armed men.

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) quoting an informed source at the ministry of humanitarian said that the two hostages are in good health and the kidnappers were contacted by Uganda and Ireland.

The Sudanese state minister for humanitarian affairs Abdel-Baqi Al-Gailani today paid a visit to North Darfur capital of El-Fasher with the company of the Irish and Ugandan ambassadors in Khartoum to review update on the status of the aid workers.

Al-Gailani said that they were briefed by El-Fasher state security who informed them that the two women are in good shape health wise and that efforts to release them are going as planned pointing to talks with tribal leaders in Kutum locality to achieve that.

He said that refusal to pay the ransom stems from rejection of such acts and so as not to encourage future activities and disclosed that they have identified and located the kidnappers.

The Sudanese official said he expects the hostages to be freed in the coming days stressing that they have refrained from using force for the safety of the aid workers and approval of their governments.

The two envoys hailed efforts by Khartoum to secure the workers’ release through dialogue with the kidnappers saying the international community is concerned with the matter.

The abduction of GOAL staffers is the third case of kidnapping since the arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court against the Sudanese President last March. Eversince, five aid workers from Medecins Sans Frontières – Belgium and two from the French Aide Médicale Internationale had been abducted and released later.

(ST)