Intervention ongoing for Irish aid worker abducted by Darfur militants

Posted by Molly Horan on 7/06/09 • Categorized as Europe, Terrorism

When news of an Irish aid worker taken captive by Darfur militants broke on Friday evening, the media of the Republic and the North of Ireland were also taken captive by the story of Sharon Commins, a 32-year-old Dublin-area member of the GOAL relief agency based in Sudan.

The Belfast Telegraph and the Irish Times report on the trip of Irish security experts and diplomats to liase with Sudanese officials attempting to identify the militant group to which Commin’s eight armed captors belong, while her mother is praying publicly for Sharon’s safe return.

Twitter has united a circle of friends joining these prayers for Shannon Commins and her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kuwuki, while concern about Sudan spreads with the news.

joanmckenna (Dublin, Ireland) is in shock. Just found out that an old schoolfriend has been kidnapped by armed militia in Darfur. Im praying for her safe return. 04 Jul 2009 from web

biffo (Offaly, Ireland) UN chief joins efforts to find Darfur workers – Irish Independent http://tinyurl.com/mdyd79 07 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

AMatIPWS (Wicklow, Ireland) Irish aid worker is kidnapped by armed men in Darfur region – Sharon was non political on the ground . Please release her. http://bit.ly … 04 Jul 2009 from TweetDeck

Mark_Coughlan (Blanchardstown, Ireland) Lots of newsrooms reading @irishelection today, three calls in the last three hours about the post on the Irish aid worker kidnap 05 Jul 2009 from web

gabgabgabby (Scotland) Now to the real NGO world! TWO female workers form the NGO “GOAL” kidnapped in Darfur – pray for their safety & freedom please. Source UN 06 Jul 2009 from web

tristanprooth (London, UK) We must keep praying for places of unrest: #IranElection, #Honduras, Iraq, #Tibet, #Darfur… Lord have mercy. 05 Jul 2009 from web

guardiannews (London, UK) Irish charity worker Sharon Commins is kidnapped in Darfur http://bit.ly/14mf9V 04 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

samdbarratt (Oxford, UK) Not good in Darfur, getting worse…RT: @robcrilly: two aid workers kidnapped in #Darfur. One irish one Ugandan. With Goal 03 Jul 2009 from TwitterFox