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The U.S. State Department
is demanding the release of three Samaritan's Purse
workers who were abducted Tuesday by a group of armed
men in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The workers – an American woman from California and two
Sudanese men - were kidnapped in an area southwest of
Nyala, according to a statement on the Boone-based
relief agency's website.
“Obviously, key Samaritan's Purse leaders and staff most
familiar with international operations are consumed with
dealing with this recent incident in Sudan and are not
available to comment at this point,” Mark DeMoss,
spokesman for Samaritan's Purse, said in an e-mailed
statement.
The U.S. State Department has demanded the release of
the aid workers, according to Andy Laine, spokesman for
the agency.
“We are closely monitoring the situation. We are
employing all available U.S. government resources to
obtain pertinent updates and any developments in the
case,” Laine said Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. also is “moving additional resources into Sudan
to aid in the investigation, and we are in communication
with senior officials in the government of Sudan,” Laine
said.
The eight armed men involved in the kidnapping also took
the two vehicles the workers were driving.
In the statement on the group's website, Franklin
Graham, CEO of Samaritan's Purse, urged people to pray
for the workers.
“I have visited Darfur several times, and it is one of
the most difficult places in the world to work,” Graham
said. “I'm asking for the prayers from people around the
world for a quick resolution and the safe return of our
Samaritan's Purse staff.”
An estimated 300,000 people have died in a rebellion in
Darfur that began in 2003.
Laine said the humanitarian work being done in Darfur is
crucial to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced
by the violence there.
“The U.S. condemns threats to the safety of humanitarian
staff and their efforts to meet urgent humanitarian
needs,” he said.
Samaritan's Purse's main project in Darfur is food
distribution, according to the organization.
The group has 2,100 workers in 110 countries worldwide.
By Julie Ball.
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