“The United Nations said on Wednesday that seven of its peacekeepers, who were kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 10 days earlier, were well and that indirect contact had been established with their captors.“We know the UN peacekeepers are in good health. We are in indirect but regular contact with the kidnappers and every effort is being made to ensure they are freed as soon as possible,” Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, told reporters.
“These militia fighters are criminals, not fanatics. They are trying to reopen their trade routes. They are asking for money in return for the UN peacekeepers but they know it is in their interest to keep them in good health,” a UN observer told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The seven Nepalese UN soldiers were kidnapped on May 28 during a joint operation by the UN forces and the DRC army to dislodge militia fighters from an area of the violence-prone northeastern province of Ituri.” [Read more]