KHARTOUM – French aid worker Gauthier Lefèvre from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) was kidnapped in Darfur yesterday, the organisation said.
The ICRC currently has no indication of who the abductors might be or of their motives, its statement said. “The ICRC is calling for the rapid and unconditional release of its kidnapped staff member,” it added.
Mr Lefèvre was kidnapped at 12pm local time north of the West Darfur town of el-Geneina, near the border with Chad, by unknown armed men. ICRC said he was travelling in one of two clearly marked vehicles from the organisation.
The abduction comes just days after Irish and Ugandan aid workers, Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki, from the agency Goal were released after more than 100 days in captivity in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
Darfur has seen a wave of kidnappings this year, mostly from young armed men demanding ransom money. Two UN-African Union peacekeepers are still in captivity.
Aid agencies say they have faced increased hostility in Darfur since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in March.
The United Nations estimates that some 300,000 have died since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003 accusing central government of neglect. The brutal counter-insurgency campaign drove more than two million people from their homes.