Armed "bandits" have demanded a ransom for the release of two women aid workers kidnapped in Darfur are negotiating with government officials, Sudan’s ambassador said to Ireland today.
Sharon Commins (32), from Clontarf in Dublin, was kidnapped by armed men at a compound run by Goal in the north Darfur town of Kutum on Friday night. She was taken from the compound along with Ugandan colleague Hilda Kuwuki (42) and a Sudanese security guard who was later released.
Ms Commins has managed to phone officials in Dublin and North Darfur and has confirmed she and her Ugandan colleague are in good health, Sudanese state minister for humanitarian affairs Abdel Baqi al-Jailani said.
Ambassador Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig said his government was hopeful the pair would be released within days. Mr Siddig said Sudan’s state minister for humanitarian affairs Abdel Baqi al-Jailani said the criminal gang demanding a ransom for the two women had been located.
“He told me that the two ladies were able to establish contact with their offices in El Fasher and in Kutum. He confirmed the two ladies, according to their telephone contacts, are safe and sound,” said Mr Siddig.
He said although talks were continuing between Sudanese officials and the kidnappers, with the help of tribal leaders in the region, his government would not be paying any ransom.
“What is important for us now is the safe and dignified release of Sharon Commins and her colleague Hilda Kuwuki,” he said. “It is our hope in the coming few days we’ll be able to secure the release of Sharon and her colleague.”
Neither Goal nor the Department of Foreign Affairs had any comment to make on the latest report, which is the first confirmation that officials are negotiating with the armed men who seized the workers - the third kidnapping of foreigners in the remote western region in four months.
Goal has suspended operations in the area.
A Sudanese national crisis management team, involving its law enforcement agencies, has set up two bases in Darfur - one in El Fasher and another in a town near where the two women are being held - to help negotiate a release. “We had experiences before, so we know exactly what we are doing and we know how to reach our ultimate objective of securing the safe release of the two ladies,” insisted Mr Siddig.
Ms Commins has been working with Goal for four years and in the Darfur region for the last 18 months.
Following the kidnapping, Goal chief executive John O'Shea said he believed the incident was about ransom money. "It can't be a political matter as we have never taken any sides in the conflict here over the seven or eight years we have been working in Darfur. I'd imagine it is an issue of criminality."
Mr Siddig yesterday told the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs that no contact had yet been made by the kidnappers but this was not of undue concern as it had taken four or five days for contact to be made in previous cases.
Two groups of foreign aid workers who were kidnapped in Darfur in March and April were later released unharmed, he said. The payment of a ransom would be "a very dangerous thing", he told TDs and senators.
Mr Siddig said the government had a high appreciation of the role played by Irish non-governmental organisations in Sudan and it deplored the kidnapping in the strongest manner.
He said Sudan and Ireland had a good relationship, Irish aid was changing lives in his country and that he hoped the incident would not sour the relationship.
A branch of Darfur's insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) has accused militias backed by Sudan's government of carrying out the most recent kidnapping, in a bid to intimidate aid agencies. Khartoum has dismissed the allegation.
Additional reporting: PA