Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is due to arrive in Khartoum tonight as efforts continue to secure the release of an Irish aid worker who was kidnapped with a Ugandan colleague in Darfur two months ago.
Earlier today, Irish aid agency Goal has said it welcomed the Minister's decision to travel to Khartoum in an effort to secure the release of Sharon Commins (32) – from Clontarf, Dublin – and Hilda Kawuki (42).
Up to eight armed men seized the women from their compound in Kutum, a town in north Darfur, on July 3rd.
Goal’s CEO John O’Shea said: “Just by going to the region, Minister Martin has clearly indicated the concern and seriousness with which the Irish Government and the Irish people are taking the kidnapping of our colleagues.
"We believe that the best chance of a satisfactory result being achieved rests with the Irish Government impressing upon their Sudanese counterparts the absolute seriousness of this situation”.
Mr Martin is due to meet officials including Sudan’s foreign minister; President Omar al-Bashirs main adviser on Darfur; and Abdul Bagi al-Jailani, the Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister who has been overseeing negotiations to secure the women’s release.
Mr al-Jailani has described the eight kidnappers as members of a nomadic tribe in north Darfur seeking a ransom.
He said last night that Sudanese authorities were continuing to liaise with tribal elders to free the women. Officials stopped talking directly to the kidnappers some time ago.