KHARTOUM: Two foreign aid workers seized at gunpoint more than three months ago in Sudan’s Darfur region were released Saturday by their captors, a Sudanese government official said.
The Irish and Ugandan women were in good health and were having medical checkups at a hospital in northern Darfur, said Sudan’s state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel-Baqi al-Jailani.
The two women were taken hostage on July 3 in the western region of Sudan, where government forces have been battling rebels for more than six years. The Irish woman, Sharon Commins, 33, and her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kuwuki, 42, were working for Irish humanitarian aid agency GOAL.
Shortly after they were seized, al-Jailani had said the kidnappers were seeking a ransom and did not appear to have political motives, though on Saturday he said no ransom was paid. He gave no details on how the release came about, except to say it involved the cooperation of local and federal governments as well as tribal leaders in the region.
In Ireland, Commins’ mother, Agatha, said she was asleep when she got a call from a Sudanese government minister and then was able to speak to her daughter.
“Oh my God, we just jumped out of bed and we were absolutely overjoyed,” she said.
She said it was a short call and her daughter sounded well: “She just said, ‘Hello, Mum, I’m free,’ and ‘how is Dad and how are the boys?’”
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs refused to describe the deal that won the women’s release. It described both women as thin but in good health.
Irish ambassador to Sudan, Gerry Corr, is traveling to Darfur Sunday.
“It’s fantastic news and we’re very pleased for the two women,” said Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin. “They have shown extraordinary courage and resilience.”
