Kidnapped UN Worker Freed in Darfur

By Ma. Rizza Leonzon // 06 January 2011
The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, or UNAMID, celebrates the arrival of one of the five long-awaited tactical helicopters from Ethiopia. A Hungarian UNAMID worker has been freed three months after he was abducted from his residence in El Fasher, Darfur. Photo by: Albert Gonzalez Farran / United Nations

A United Nations employee has been released in Darfur following three months of captivity. 

Istvan Papp, a member of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, or UNAMID, was released on Jan. 5 and appeared to be “unharmed and in good health,” the mission said in a statement.

The Hungarian native and two other peacekeepers were snatched from their residence in El Fasher on Oct. 7 by gunmen, who used a UNAMID vehicle to leave the area. The other two UNAMID staff members managed to escape from the vehicle.

>> UN Worker Abducted in Darfur

A total of 10 UNAMID peacekeepers have been abducted since 2008.