French Red Cross Worker Kidnapped By Armed Gunmen In Chad

November 10, 2009 3:11 p.m. EST

Geneva, Switzerland (AHN) - Unknown armed men kidnapped a French staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) late Monday night. According to the humanitarian aide agency the worker was an agronomist evaluating the region's latest harvest.

In a statement the ICRC revealed Laurent Maurice was assessing the harvest and was planning on remaining in Kawa for the night along with five local colleagues. The agency says they have an outpost in that particular region supporting a health care center. As a result of this latest incident work in the east of the Central African country is halted temporarily.

The Red Cross said Tuesday that it has no information as to the identity of the abductors or why they kidnapped their aid worker. The group says it is in contact with authorities and "other parties" to try to resolve the situation quickly.

This kidnapping marks the second time in a few weeks where a French ICRC was seized. A previous worker was kidnapped in eastern Darfur in Sudan on October 22. His whereabouts still remain a mystery.

Armed attacks and banditry is the single greatest threat to aid workers in eastern Chad. In a March report the British-based humanitarian group Oxfam said there were 25 attacks each month against non-governmental organizations in eastern Chad despite the presence of United Nation peacekeepers