Irish Red Cross engineer Donal Ó Súilleabháin is expected to return to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa today after being released from captivity on Saturday.
Mr Ó Súilleabháin (41) from Sligo and his Ethiopian colleague, Hadiis Ahmed Samatar, who was also released unharmed, had been held since last Monday when they were seized by an armed group near the southern town of Godé.
He was with seven Ethiopian Red Cross staff when he and his colleague were taken away on foot by the kidnappers.
Patrick Mégevand of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told The Irish Times that the two men, who were handed over to ICRC officials north of Godé, were in good health and unharmed. Their release was negotiated by the ICRC.
Mr Ó Súilleabháin was in Godé yesterday, where he was joined by his brother Eoin, an aid worker for the charity Goal in Kenya.
Noel Wardick, head of the international department of the Irish Red Cross, said his organisation was "extremely relieved". He denied that a ransom had been paid and said the men's release had been "unconditional".
Plans for Mr Ó Súilleabháin's return to Ireland have not yet been made, with Mr Wardick saying yesterday that it was important for released hostages to undergo a "decompression process" before returning home.
Last Friday, a group calling itself the United Western Somali Liberation Front admitted kidnapping the two men. The statement said they had mistaken Mr Ó Súilleabháin and Ahmed Samatar for oil workers, and promised their release within 48 hours.
Mr Ó Súilleabháin, an experienced hydrogeologist, had just arrived in Ethiopia, having spent the previous year working in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Mr Ó Súilleabháin's father Brian said the family were celebrating at their Sligo home. "He phoned us as soon as he got out and he seems to be fine," he said.
