Sudan: UN reports release of abducted aid worker, works to free those still detained

A German aid worker who had been abducted in southern Sudan late last month was freed today, according to the United Nations, which is working to secure the release of two others still in captivity.

Preliminary reports indicate that the German national, a staff member at the non-governmental organization (NGO) "World Vision," is in good health, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

The freed aid worker was picked up by an aircraft belonging to the UN's humanitarian Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), a consortium of relief organizations operating in the country, according to the spokesman.

The relief worker, along with two other World Vision colleagues, went missing in the Sudanese town of Waat on 29 July during a militia attack which took the life of a fourth World Vision staff member, a Kenyan national.

"The United Nations is very concerned about the welfare of the two aid workers still missing," Mr. Eckhard said, adding, "the UN is working with World Vision and the German Government to seek their release."

World Vision is a partner in OLS, which was established in April 1989, bringing together two UN agencies - the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme - as well as more than 35 NGOs.