by Rana Husseini | Jan 02, 2013 JORDAN TIMES
AMMAN — Two Jordanian peacekeepers who were abducted in Sudan’s Darfur region in August were released and on their way to the Jordanian mission in Sudan, the Public Security Department (PSD) announced on Wednesday.
“We have been notified by the Sudanese government that the officers are on their way to our Jordanian mission in Sudan and are in good condition,” PSD Spokesperson Lt. Col. Mohammad Khatib told The Jordan Times.
Khatib added that “the two officers will be sent to a field hospital for medical checkups then we will work on securing their safe return to Jordan”.
Khatib also said the families of the officers in Jordan have been notified.
The PSD spokesperson would not elaborate on the circumstances that led to the release of the officers, saying that “all what we were notified by the Sudanese government is that our officers were released by the outlawed group that abducted them and were in good condition”.
Sergeant Hassan Mazawdeh and Corporal Qassem Sarhan were with a team of peacekeepers who went to buy supplies for the camp from a market in Kabkabiya, near the North Darfur state capital Al Fashir and were reported missing when they failed to rendezvous with their colleagues two hours later, on August 20.
A PSD statement released to the press on Wednesday commended the Sudanese authorities and the UN for their “tireless efforts to secure the release of the abducted officers”.
The PSD investigation revealed a few months ago that the two peacekeepers were kidnapped by a group of outlaws, but for financial, not ideological reasons, and that the kidnappers do not belong to any armed or organised gang.
Jordanian peacekeepers are stationed in several parts of the world, mainly in Congo, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Haiti.