Finally Good News: MSF Staff Released

Published March 13, 2009 @ 10:58PM PT

[Updated March 14th - MSF has now confirmed their release. The original post from yesterday is below.]

Four Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) staff kidnapped in Darfur earlier this week have been released. According to Reuters:

"MSF identified them as a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor, a French coordinator and a Sudanese national. 'The kidnappers called us... (the hostages) were released an hour ago,' Kostas Moschochoritis, head of MSF Italy, told Reuters."

The Reuters article also shows why Sudanese Government public relations leave a little something to be desired:

"The pro-government newspaper Akhir Lahzah on Friday published an interview with a senior health official criticising MSF's decision to suspend its Darfur operations after the abduction as a 'spiteful act' of retaliation for the expulsions."

Right.

That aside, at least some good news to end the week.

[MSF staff in Darfur - Photo from Reuters]

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Comments (3)

There are some conflicting messages on this: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LE512767.htm

Posted by Michael Keizer on 03/14/2009 @ 01:42AM PT
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They have indeed now been freed--although it looks like everyone (including myself) jumped the gun yesterday. (It's not every day that a government--in this case, Italy's--actually retracts an announcement like this.)

The full Google News story cluster is (still) at http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&topic=w&ncl=1313191368&scoring=n. One of the newest items is an AP semi-feature ("Aid groups in Darfur weigh future after kidnapping"; http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmRda4hE5xvd9wy2ljQSBktOz96AD96U2BDO0) that contains this...

"An officer with the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission said they have advised aid groups to centralize their operations in secure cities. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. [...]

"[']It is becoming more complicated, more uncertain, more volatile, and, for the people, more difficult to work,['] said Gerog Nothelle, the Africa director for the Germany-based aid group Malteser International, which operates in north Darfur. [...]

"By expelling so many aid workers [-] 40 percent of those working in Darfur, according to the U.N. - and accusing them of being spies, experts say the Sudanese government has created a negative environment for the aid groups in hopes they will eventually be forced out.
"[']It is a signal that the field is open for confrontation,['] which encouraged the kidnapping, said Fouad Hikmat, a Sudan expert with the International Crisis Group. [']You create a push factor['] to drive away the remaining groups. [...]

"[']We are now in the business of surviving,['] said one aid worker speaking from Darfur. [']It is hard to get much work done in this environment.[']

"Already, some refugee camp residents are reporting deteriorating water services and the spread of infectious diseases."

Posted by Eric Jon Magnuson on 03/14/2009 @ 03:45PM PT
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Much needed good news. Thanks for blogging about this!!!! Little bit of sunshine goes a long way in these dark days.

Posted by Andrea M on 03/15/2009 @ 01:54AM PT
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Michael has worked for NGOs in Afghanistan, across east and central Africa, and Iraq. Prior to going overseas, he worked on a project providing assistance to the United Nations on the application of International Humanitarian Law to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.