Darfur former rebels pledge to release peacekeepers

April 15, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A Darfur group admitted today that one of its commanders has abducted the four UNAMID peacekeepers expressing its readiness to release them.

People’s Democratic Struggle Movement (PDSM), a splinter group from the former rebel SLM-Free Will faction, said the commander was not aware of a deal they signed recently with the government.

The PDSM chairman Jibril Bukhari said in a statement released today the commander who kidnapped the four South African police advisers was not informed about an agreement they had signed with the government on Saturday 10 April.

The two women and two men were abducted on Monday 12 April.

South African government said on Thursday exerting efforts to ensure the release of its four kidnapped national in South Darfur state.

“We are completely confident that this will be resolved soon. We wish to assure the South African public that we will pull out all stops to bring them home soon,” said the South Africa’s Department of Defense said in a statement.

UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management Mohamed Yonis today met in Nyala, with the UNAMID staff of Sector South (Nyala) to convey his solidarity to them during these difficult moments following the abduction of their colleagues and to assure them that all efforts are being deployed to secure the safe release of their release.

Noureddine Mezni, the UNAMID official spokesperson told Sudan Tribune that Yonis, during this meeting, provided the staff with the details of the efforts being deployed to secure the safe release of their South Africa colleagues.

He called reassured UNAMID staff there that as JSR Gambari was in touch with
the highest government officials and the UN and AU leadership in New
York and Addis Abeba respectively, not only to secure the release of
the hostages but to ensure the continued security and safety of all staff.

Yonis is also participated in a meeting of Sector South Crisis Management Team (CMT) in charge of the abduction file. He received from the team members, a full briefing on the different contacts related to this case and the progress made so far in coordination with the State Government authorities in charge of the file.

During a meeting with the south Darfur governor, the later told him that abductees would be released very soon.

He confirmed that the security forces have adequate information about the abductors and their current hide-out and a strategy for securing the release of the hostages has been worked
out. He called for patience stating that they are handling the situation meticulously in order not to endanger the lives of the hostages.

(ST)