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Afghanistan: abducted ICRC staff released

29-09-2007 News Release 07/103

Kabul/Geneva (ICRC) – Four staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were released today after being seized by an armed group in Wardak Province, south-west of Kabul on 26 September.

" The unconditional release of our four colleagues is a great relief to us and their families, " said Franz Rauchenstein, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul.

The ICRC had contacted all parties concerned over the past three days, to ensure the swift release of its personnel. Two of the staff members involved are from Afghanistan, one is from Myanmar and the other from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The ICRC has been protecting and assisting the victims of armed conflict in Afghanistan since 1987. The organization’s independence and neutrality, and its mandate under international humanitarian law, have allowed it to act as a neutral intermediary on several occasions.

 
For further information, please contact:
  Graziella Leite Piccolo, ICRC Kabul, tel +93700 282 719
  Claudia McGoldrick, ICRC Geneva, tel +41 22 730 3443 or +41 79 217 3216