Two foreign aid workers kidnapped by gunmen in Sudan's restive Darfur region are in good health and have been allowed to speak to their relatives, a government official said Sunday.
Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel-Baqi Jailani, said efforts to free the hostages were progressing. "Let us hope we will secure their release, but we were assured about their safety and well being. And yes, they are in good health," he said.
Gunmen snatched the two women _ one from Ireland, the other from Uganda _ early this month in Darfur. They worked for the Irish aid group GOAL.
Jailani said the kidnappers are seeking a ransom and do not appear to have political motives. He said he has been working with Irish and Ugandan diplomats on negotiations with the kidnappers, and the sides have established a "hotline" for the talks.
This is the third kidnapping of foreign humanitarian workers in Sudan's remote western region since March, when an international court issued a warrant for the country's president on charges of orchestrating war crimes there.
The series of abductions, along with Sudan's expulsion of 13 international aid agencies in response to the arrest warrant, has struck a blow to the vital aid effort in the desert region, now in its sixth year of conflict.
Aid organizations working in Darfur have always preferred to work without security from the government or peacekeepers in the region to avoid appearing to be taking sides in the conflict.
Sudan's Arab-dominated government has been battling ethnic African rebels in Darfur since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.
The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, has issued an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir on charges he orchestrated a counterinsurgency that was marred by atrocities committed by allied militia. He has denied the charges and ignored the arrest warrant.
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