Kidnapped aid worker Arjan Erkel freed (Prague Watchdog) - Dutch relief aid worker Arjan Erkel, who was kidnapped 20 months ago in Dagestan by unknown perpetrators, has been freed, a well-informed source told Prague Watchdog today.
Representatives of MSF and Russian authorities confirmed the news; and according to MSF, Erkel's health is in satisfactory condition.
Reliable information about the circumstances of Erkel's release is not yet available.
The Head of the Dagestan Mission of the Swiss section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Peter Arjan Erkel, was kidnapped in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala on August 12, 2002 by unknown men who forced him into their car.
Since the abduction, MSF and the international community called on the Russian authorities and later specifically on President Putin to intensify their efforts to achieve Erkel's release. Recently, MSF president Jean-Hervé Bradol accused Russian and Dagestani officials of being directly involved in the abduction.
(T/E) |
