British Aid Worker Freed in Sudan's Darfur after 86 Days
A British aid worker kidnapped nearly three months ago in Sudan's conflict-plagued Darfur region has been freed, the U.N.'s World Food Program said on Wednesday.
"After 86 days in captivity in the South Darfur region of Sudan, British aid worker Patrick Noonan, who was working for the U.N. World Food Program, has been released," WFP said in a statement.
Noonan had been in Sudan for about two years and was working as a logistician in Nyala town when he was abducted by "armed men" on March 6, the statement said.
"We are thankful for his safe release," WFP executive director Ertharin Cousin said in the statement.
A Sudanese driver kidnapped with Noonan was released later the same day, it said.
"It is with great pleasure that we can confirm the release of the British hostage Patrick Noonan, who was kidnapped in Sudan three months ago," said Africa minister Henry Bellingham of the British Foreign Office in London.
The head of the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari, praised the efforts of the government in securing Noonan's freedom.
But he warned in the WFP statement that the abduction of humanitarian workers is a violation of international humanitarian law and the perpetrators must be found and prosecuted.
"The situation in Darfur remains volatile and insecurity is an issue that impedes the work of the humanitarian community serving the region," the WFP statement said.
It said that since 2009, 40 humanitarian workers have been abducted.
In February rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) freed five Turks they had held for several months in Darfur.
That followed the release in December of Italian hostage Francesco Azzara, a humanitarian worker held for about four months. UNAMID blamed a "criminal element" for his abduction.
A wave of kidnappings for ransom occurred after President Omar al-Bashir's March 2009 indictment by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Rebels drawn from Darfur's non-Arab tribes rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003 and were confronted by state-backed Janjaweed militia in a conflict that shocked the world and led to allegations of genocide.
Although much of the violence degenerated into banditry, Gambari expressed concern in April that rebels in Darfur were exploiting tensions between Sudan and South Sudan along their disputed frontier.
Khartoum alleges that South Sudan backs Darfuri rebels, a charge denied by the government in Juba.
The United Nations estimates that at least 300,000 people have died as a result of the Darfur conflict. Nearly two million remain displaced.
The Sudanese government puts the death toll at 10,000.
Source: Agence France Presse
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