Sudan may grant immunity to kidnappers of aid workers

SUDAN IS considering offering legal immunity to the kidnappers of an Irish aid agency worker and her Ugandan colleague, a Sudanese government minister has told news agency Reuters.

Sharon Commins (32), from Clontarf in Dublin, and her colleague Hilda Kawuki (42) were taken by a gang of armed men from a Goal compound in north Darfur on July 3rd.

Sudan’s state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel Baqi al-Jailani, said he now knew the names of the eight kidnappers.

He said they were members of a nomadic tribe in north Darfur seeking a ransom.

He said the Sudanese government was negotiating with the abductors through senior members of their tribe who were planning to appeal to their Islamic sensibilities during the holy month of Ramadan.

“We have said what they have done is a crime. They should be punished . . . But at this stage, our aim is to free the ladies. So we are trying to tell them that we are ready to negotiate . . . forgiveness,” he said.

By “forgiveness” he said he meant Sudan was ready to discuss the possibility of legal immunity for the kidnappers. “Ramadan is a month of forgiveness, is a month of love, a month of worship,” he said.

Sources close to the kidnappers’ base continued to report the women were in good health. “From the reports I received, the two ladies are Okay . . .”

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said Irish officials were continuing efforts to secure the release of the women.

“Our officials remain on the ground in Sudan and are continuing their work to secure the release of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki,” the spokesman said.