Kidnapped Swiss aid worker freed in Darfur

Sudanese security forces have freed a Swiss aid worker who was kidnapped in Darfur last month in an overnight operation in the war-torn region, Sudanese and Swiss officials said Wednesday.

The abduction of Margaret Schankel was the first such reported incident in Darfur since the United Nations began scaling back its peacekeeping force in the region earlier this year.

Her release comes as the UN Security Council meets on Wednesday to assess the downsizing of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

"Agents of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services carried out an overnight operation and freed the Swiss aid worker from near Kutum" in North Darfur state, its deputy governor Mohamed Barima told AFP.

The Swiss authorities confirmed the release of Schankel who was brought to Khartoum later on Wednesday.

"I would like to thank the government of Sudan, all authorities especially also those who conducted investigations and the operations for the successful release of Ms Schankel," Swiss ambassador to Khartoum, Daniel Cavegn, told reporters at Khartoum airport.

Unidentified men on October 7 kidnapped Schankel, who had lived in Sudan for many years, from near her residence in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

The Sudanese authorities did not say who had abducted the aid worker.

The kidnapping came despite repeated claims by Sudanese officials that the Darfur region was now safe as the long-running conflict there had ended.

"Such incidents can happen in any town in Sudan or outside. These incidents are mainly committed for money," said Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Garib Allaha Khadr.

Aid workers in Darfur have regularly expressed concerns about their safety following the decision to downsize UN forces in the region.

Peacekeeping troops often escort humanitarian staff to remote areas.

In July, a UN official said that UNAMID, a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping force, would reduce the number of its troops in the region, citing a fall in violence.

The UN force was deployed after a brutal conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, which the United Nations says has killed about 300,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million.

The conflict erupted after ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government.

They accused Khartoum of marginalising the Darfur region economically and politically.

Most of the displaced live in camps, after escaping fighting between government forces and rebels.

The latest abduction adds to an already lengthy list of foreign and Sudanese aid workers who have been kidnapped in the region in recent years.

Last year, three UN refugee agency workers were abducted by armed men in West Darfur state. The workers, two Nepalese and a Sudanese, were later released.