Two German aid workers freed in Darfur
July 27, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Two German aid workers kidnapped in Darfur have been released after spending 35 days in captivity.
‘I am very pleased and relieved that the two kidnapped German workers from the Technisches Hilfswerks are free,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
The state-run SUNA news agency quoted the governor of South Darfur State as saying that the two are “in good health and have been released without conditions”
The governor however, said that international organizations were to blame for the kidnapping of their staff because “they failed to abide by government’s instructions regarding their movement”
An American female aid worker of the US organization Samaritan’s Purse still remains hostage in Darfur since she was kidnapped in mid-May. Kidnappings of foreign aid workers in Darfur have gone into vogue since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in March 2009.
(ST)
Paul Ongee
Two German aid workers freed in Darfur
Why the kidnapping operations intensify following the issued arrest warrant for Al-Bashir in March last year? The GoS is certainly behind all the ongoing kidnappings. The reason is to investigate, based on the available background information and field experience of the targeted aid workers, if they have any knowledge about or believe the evidence presented by Ocampo to the ICC. The intelligent personnel is obviously divided into two sections. Those who pose as kidnappers and carry out the operation in total secrecy and those who inform the kidnappers of the NGO’s directions of movements.