ITALIAN GOVT WORKING TO FREE AID WORKER ABDUCTED IN DARFUR

ITALIAN GOVT WORKING TO FREE AID WORKER ABDUCTED IN DARFUR

(ANSA) - Rome, August 16 - The Italian government was working closely with Sudanese authorities and the United Nations Tuesday following the kidnapping of an Italian aid worker in Sudan.

Francesco Azzara', a 34-year-old volunteer of the Italian medical aid NGO Emergency, was with two colleagues Sunday when a group of armed men abducted him from his car at the airport in Darfur, a region which has been in a state of humanitarian emergency since 2003.

Azzara', the only non-Sudanese person in the vehicle, worked in a pediatric center that Emergency opened last year in Nyala, the capital of Darfur.

A motive for the kidnapping is unknown.

The Italian government has requested a media blackout on further reporting while they attempt to free him.

"Caution is needed in order to free him quickly," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Founded in Milan in 1994, Emergency is a humanitarian aid agency that provides emergency medical treatment to civilian victims of war.

According to Emergency, the Nyala aid workers operate the only free pediatric clinic in the area.