Ireland’s ambassador to Egypt is in Darfur today as part of an international team working to secure the release of an Irish aid worker kidnapped with her Ugandan colleague in Darfur.
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.
Irish diplomat Gerry Corr arrived in El Fasher, the administrative capital of north Darfur, last night. He is part of a delegation that includes his Ugandan counterpart and Sudan’s minister for humanitarian affairs Abdul Bagi al-Jailani.
The three men are due to have what Mr Jailani described earlier this week as a “very important” meeting with the local branch of Sudan’s national intelligence services.
Mr Jailani, who had lengthy telephone conversations with Ms Commins's mother in Clontarf and Ms Kawuki's mother in Uganda at the weekend, told The Irish Timesthis week 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.