TodaysNetworkNews: DARFUR: TWO UN PEACEKEEPERS KIDNAP-RELEASE (UNAMID)

TodaysNetworkNews: 14 December 2009 - UNAMID: Two civilian staff members of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) are released after 107 days, Pamela Ncube and Patrick Winful set foot on the compound of the African Union United Nations Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur.

Sunday evening, the two kidnapped UN workers arrived in Zalingei and were immediately welcomed by their colleagues.

On August 29, Pamela, a native of Zimbabwe, and Patrick, who is from Nigeria, were abducted at gunpoint in the town of Zalingei. And now, more than three months later, they are free.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Patick Winful, Released staff member, UNAMID:
I must confess that we sure feel very great. At the same time, you know wed like to express our appreciation to the contributions of theUN as a whole and the government of Sudan for their contribution towards expediting.

UNAMIDs Crisis Management Team, led by Deputy Joint Special Representative, Mohammed Yonis has been dealing with this case for more than three months.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
I was very much happy. It was joyful. I think the whole community was looking forward to seeing them coming back home. And it was a very important moment for all of us and we really enjoy seeing them.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) General Ahmed Tayeb Abu-Guroun, Head of Sudanese National Security in Western Darfur
We really appreciate the role played by UNAMID and we are happy to see good cooperation between UNAMID and the government of Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
The kidnappers, from what I understood, are headed by a gentleman called Matar Khierallah. We have never met them. We have been talking to them through the phone, through our Zalingei office. There are quite a number of them. We dont really have a lot of information on them.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
I think one of the most difficult issues Ive ever dealt with, it was emotionally difficult and we were all concerned, because you always think each and every night about the fact that they are alive, that they were eating, they were healthy. So it was a very difficult thing for all of us as a mission and in particular for myself.

Upon arrival, Pamela and Patrick were taken to the hospital in the compound for a medical checkup. According to UNAMIDs doctors, they are doing fine.

SOUNDBITE (English) Patick Winful, released staff member, UNAMID:
I already spoke with my family and Pamela spoke with her children, too. And they are very great and very happy. Im looking forward to joining them there as soon as possible.

UNAMID was established in 2007 to try to quell the violence in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million others displaced as a result of a conflict pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen since 2003. ....: TodaysNetworkNews:
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• Pamela Ncube
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• Mohmed Yonis
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