SUDAN’S HUMANITARIAN affairs minister will arrive in Ireland this weekend for an official visit during which he will meet freed aid worker Sharon Commins and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin.
Abdul Bagi al-Jailani, who oversaw negotiations for the release of Ms Commins and her Goal colleague Hilda Kawuki after they were kidnapped and held for more than 100 days in Darfur, will discuss humanitarian efforts in the region and other parts of Sudan in meetings with Mr Martin and officials from Irish Aid, the Government’s overseas development arm.
He will also meet representatives from Irish aid agencies including Concern. Goal chief executive John O’Shea said last night his agency had not scheduled a meeting with the minister.
Mr Jailani claimed last month that Irish officials, including Mr Martin, had “agreed in principle” to contribute more to development efforts in Sudan during negotiations to secure the women’s release. But the Department of Foreign Affairs said no specific commitments had been made.
Ireland’s development funding to Sudan is currently channelled through UN agencies and NGOs including Concern, Trócaire and Goal. This year, Ireland has contributed more than €9.5 million to humanitarian agencies operating in the country.
A Sudanese diplomatic source said Mr Jailani was scheduled to meet Ms Commins and her family. The kidnapping of the aid workers became the longest-running abduction of foreign humanitarian personnel in Darfur. Within days of the women’s release, a French national working for the International Committee of the Red Cross was seized in the region. He remains in captivity and his kidnappers have demanded a ransom.