Abducted Swiss aid worker freed in Sudan’s Darfur

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM (AA) – Sudanese security forces have freed a Swiss aid worker abducted in the country’s troubled Darfur region last month, according to Sudanese officials on Wednesday.

Margret Shinkel was abducted by an unknown group on October 7 in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

“She was released and I talked to her this morning,” Sudanese aid commissioner Ahmed Mohammed Adam told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

“She is in good health and may arrive in Khartoum today,” he said.

No details were given by Sudanese authorities about how the woman had been freed or whether a ransom had been paid.

Darfur has been the scene of a ferocious war between the Sudanese government and three rebel movements since 2003. The conflict has left 300,000 people dead and around 2.5 million others displaced, according to UN figures.