Kidnapped Swiss aid worker freed in Darfur

Sudanese security forces have freed a Swiss aid worker who was kidnapped in Darfur last month in an overnight operation in the war-torn region, a Sudanese official said on Wednesday.
Her abduction was the first such reported incident in Darfur since the United Nations began scaling back its peacekeeping force in the region earlier this year.
   
The release of the aid worker, whose identity has not been revealed by Sudan or Swiss authorities, comes as the UN Security Council meets on Wednesday to assess the downsizing of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
   
"Agents of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services carried out an overnight operation and freed the Swiss aid worker from near Kutum" in North Darfur state, its deputy governor Mohamed Barima told AFP.
   
"She is safe and in good health."
   
A security source in Khartoum said the aid worker would be brought to the Sudanese capital later on Wednesday.
   
Unidentified men on October 7th kidnapped the Swiss national, who had lived in Sudan for many years, from near her residence in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
   
The kidnapping came despite repeated claims by Sudanese officials that the Darfur region was now safe as the long-running conflict there had ended.