French aid workers released in Darfur

Khartoum - Two French aid workers of the aid group Triangle Generation Humanitaire were released in Darfur, Sudan after being seized by gunmen on 22 November 2009 in the Central African Republic.

After more than 100 days as captives, two French aid workers who were taken whilst in the town of Birao, on the Central African Republic borders with Chad and Sudan, were released on Sunday in the Darfur region of Sudan. Olivier Denis and Olivier Frappe were working for the French aid organisation Triangle Generation Humanitaire when a group calling itself the African Free Eagles kidnapped them and a French Red Cross worker Laurent Maurice in November 2009. Maurice was released last month after 89 days as a captive. The African Free Eagles is said to be made up of young African men. A spokesman for the group, Abu Mohammed al-Rizeigi, said it wanted France to “change policy in the region,” the AFP reported in November. "We were scared but now it's finished," Denis said, "We were not mistreated ... We were lucky because there were two of us." "I didn't realise and I still don't realise what is happening," said Frappe. "I just know that many times I was thinking that they would kill me so now I'm safe here in Khartoum and I will be tomorrow safe in Paris with my family and that's the most important thing for me." Both French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher expressed “delight that they have been freed,” and called for the freedom of another French national, Guathier Lefevre who was abducted last October in West Darfur. Lefevre, a French-British national worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross when he was taken near the border with Chad. France currently has problematic relations with Darfur because it has allowed Abdel Wahid Nur, a top Darfur rebel leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, to reside in Paris, France. It also has personnel in United Nations peacekeeping force situated across the border in Chad and the Central African Republic. However, Sudan state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel Baqi Gilani, has promised to find and bring to justice the people who abducted Denis and Frappe. "We want to eradicate this culture (of kidnapping) which is not ours." He reportedly told the AFP. On February 23, Khartoum and the Justice and Equality Movement rebel group signed a ceasefire and framework agreement for Darfur peace. However, several other rebels groups refused to sign the deal. The region of Sudan has been ravaged by war between rebels and government backed militias since 2003, which, according to the United Nations, has claimed about 300,000 lives in addition to displacing some 2.7 million people. However, Khartoum believes the death toll to be 10,000. There are now at least two dozen factions in the area. In March 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar al-Beshir for crimes against humanity and war crimes all committed in Darfur. He is yet to be arrested.