THE SUDANESE government minister overseeing negotiations for the release of an Irish aid worker kidnapped with her Ugandan colleague in Darfur will travel to the region tomorrow with the Irish and Ugandan ambassadors as efforts to secure the women’s release intensify.
Sharon Commins (33) from Clontarf, Dublin, and Hilda Kawuki (42), a nutritionist from Uganda, were abducted at gunpoint from their compound in the north Darfur town of Kutum on July 3rd. The two women work for Irish aid agency Goal.
Speaking to The Irish Timesfrom Khartoum last night, Abdul Bagi al-Jailani, Sudan's minister for humanitarian affairs, played down speculation that the women had fallen ill as their ordeal stretches into its fourth month.
Mr Jailani said he will fly to El Fasher, the administrative capital of north Darfur, tomorrow along with Ireland’s ambassador to Egypt Gerry Corr, who also has responsibility for Sudan, and his Ugandan counterpart. The three men are due to have what Mr Jailani described as a “very important” meeting with the local branch of Sudan’s national intelligence services.
“I want to acquaint myself with the most up-to-date information on the situation on the ground,” the Sudanese minister said. “We want to accelerate the situation and bring it to a swift conclusion.”
Mr Jailani, who had lengthy telephone conversations with Ms Commins’s mother in Clontarf and Ms Kawuki’s mother in Uganda at the weekend, claimed Sudanese officials were getting “good signals” from tribal chiefs in the area, signals he said indicated the situation may be resolved soon.
He reiterated the Sudanese government’s position that it will not contemplate the payment of a ransom, as demanded by the kidnappers. Mr Jailani has previously said that Khartoum was considering offering legal immunity to the kidnappers if they agree to hand over the two aid workers.
The women’s plight has now become the longest-running abduction of foreign aid personnel in Darfur.
Ms Commins’s friends have set up a Facebook page titled “Freedom for Sharon” to highlight the case. Almost 300 people have signed up to the page as fans, and several people posted messages of support on September 23rd, the date of Sharon’s birthday.