Sudan:
Ireland Foreign Minister Presses For Hostages
Release
Ireland's
Foreign Minister, Michael Martin has met Senior
Sudanese officials in Khartoum, to press for the
release of an Irish aid worker and her Ugandan
colleague kidnapped in Darfur more than two months
ago.
Micheal Martin met his Sudanese counterpart Deng
Alor, the Khartoum government's point man on Darfur,
Ghazi Salaheddin and Sudan's State Minister for
Humanitarian Affairs, Abdel Baqi al-Jailani.
In a brief statement to Journalists, Martin said he
wanted to pass on the Irish people's concern about
the kidnapping and his government's willingness to
help efforts to free the women.
Sharon Commins from Dublin and Hilda Kawuki, who
both work for Irish aid group GOAL, were seized by
armed men in early July.
Ireland already has diplomats and negotiators in
Khartoum and El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Sudan's government has blamed the kidnapping on
bandits and says it is determined not to pay a
ransom. Ministers say they have identified the
kidnappers and are negotiating through leaders of
their nomadic tribe.
This is the longest-running abduction in a new wave
of kidnappings in Sudan's violent west.
AP/ Qasim / Austeen