THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday cooled speculation that the kidnappers who abducted an Irish aid worker and her Ugandan colleague at gunpoint last Friday may be seeking a ransom.

EFFORTS to free kidnapped aid worker Sharon Commins intensified last night amid growing uncertainty about those responsible for the abduction.

The head of the charity whose aid workers were kidnapped in Darfur tonight appealed for their safe return.

Ireland’s ambassador in Cairo is on his way to Khartoum to help free two aid workers kidnapped in Darfur, officials confirmed today.