The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs has flown to Khartoum to meet the Sudanese government as efforts to free a kidnapped Irish aid worker continue.
Sharon Commins, 32, from Dublin, who worked for GOAL, was abducted with her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kawuki, from the Darfur region in early July.
The two were taken by a gang of armed men from a compound run by Irish aid agency GOAL on 3 July.
Micheál Martin met government ministers in Khartoum on Sunday.
In a brief statement to journalists, Mr 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.
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.
GOAL has welcomed the Irish government’s decision to send the minister to the Sudan, saying authorities there are the key to the release of the two aid workers.
It is nine weeks since the two women were kidnapped.
In August, newspaper reports suggested that they would be freed soon.
However, it has also been reported that the kidnappers have made $2m ransom demands in return for the women’s safe release.
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية