VOA News Monday, August 30th, 2010
An American aid worker has been released in Sudan’s Darfur region after being held captive for more than 100 days.
The U.S.-based charity Samaritan’s Purse says 35-year-old Flavia Wagner was freed Monday by her kidnappers.
Sudan’s foreign ministry says Wagner is in the town of Nyala, at the home of the governor of South Darfur state. The French news agency AFP quotes a ministry spokesman as saying no ransom was paid for her release.
Wagner was kidnapped in
Meanwhile, a search is on for three Russian pilots abducted Sunday afternoon in Nyala.
The pilots work for Sudan’s Badr Airlines, which ships cargo and passengers for international aid programs.
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reports that Sudanese authorities have learned the location of the pilots and their kidnappers, and have sent security forces to the area.
Sunday’s kidnapping marks the second time foreigners have been seized in Darfur this month. Two Jordanians with the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur were abducted August 14 but released a few days later.
Peacekeepers and foreign aid workers have faced increased hostility in Darfur since March 2009, when the International Criminal Court indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in the region.
Stumble It!
