Italian charity worker kidnapped

An Italian humanitarian worker employed at a child-care centre in western Sudan’s Darfur region has been kidnapped, the Foreign Ministry and the charity Emergency said yesterday.

Francesco Azzara, 34, was abducted on Sunday as he was driving to the airport in Nyala, capital of South Darfur province, with two colleagues, Emergency said, calling on the kidnappers to release him immediately.

The vehicle was surrounded by armed men who ordered Mr Azzara to get out, the charity said, adding that it had alerted all its contacts in Darfur and Khartoum and informed the Italian Foreign Ministry.

“We have been in touch with the authorities and opposition groups,” Emergency founder Gino Strada said, adding that there had been no contact with the kidnappers.

Mr Azzara is in charge of logistics at the paediatric centre opened in Nyala by Emergency in July 2010.

The foreign ministry said it was working with the United Nations mission in Darfur and local authorities to resolve the matter.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told online Radio Baobab that there were indications but no claim of responsibility.