Department refutes reports of ransom demand for GOAL aid workers

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.

Reports from Uganda indicated that the group who took 32-year-old Clontarf woman Sharon Commins and her GOAL colleague Hilda Kawuki, 42, from their compound in the stricken Darfur region were now demanding money amid frantic efforts to ensure their safe release.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon also assured the Irish Government and Sharon’s family that no effort would be spared to ensure the safe release of the GOAL workers.