A Hungarian employee of the United Nations abducted in Sudan's Darfur region in October has been released.
Armed men seized Istvan Papp, a civilian employee working on the demobilisation of armed groups, from his compound in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in early October.
"He has been released this afternoon. He is in good shape ... It was the Sudanese government authorities who secured his release," said Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the joint UN/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping mission.
It was thought to be the first time kidnappers had targeted foreigners in El Fasher, used as a headquarters for UNAMID, which is supposed to keep the peace in an arid region about the size of Spain, seven years into a festering conflict.
The abduction, the latest in a series of kidnappings in more remote parts of the region, took place hours after a delegation from the UN Security Council arrived in the city.
Hungary's foreign ministry said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti had telephoned his Hungarian counterpart, Janos Martonyi, to inform him that the man had been released.
Mr Saiki said he was still awaiting details of where and how Mr Papp was released. He said Sudanese officials drove Papp to El Fasher airport where he later boarded a flight to Khartoum.
Reuters