EFFORTS TO secure the release of an Irish aid worker kidnapped in Darfur more than a week ago are progressing well, according to a Sudanese government minister.
Up to eight armed men seized Sharon Commins (32) from Clontarf, Dublin, and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki (42), both of whom work for Irish aid agency Goal, from their compound in Kutum, a town in north Darfur, last Friday week.
Sudanese authorities say they have been negotiating with the kidnappers since last week. They are also liaising with tribal elders. The two women have spoken to officials by phone on a number of occasions, and have told them they are in good health.
“The situation is progressing and we are building good consensus for the release,” Sudan’s minister for humanitarian affairs Abdul Bagi al-Jailani told The Irish Times in a telephone interview from Khartoum last night. “We expect to have good results at any time but we have to be patient.”
Mr al-Jailani said officials last made contact with the two women on Saturday. “According to the traditions of this community, it would be considered a scandal to mistreat women,” he said.