Darfur kidnappers demand 3 million euro ransom

The kidnappers of a Franco-British Red Cross worker in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region are demanding a three-million-euro ransom, a senior Sudanese official said on Tuesday.

Abdel Baqi Gilani, a state humanitarian affairs minister, said they have "demanded a ransom of three million euros (4.5 million dollars), but we will not pay a ransom, and the same goes for the Red Cross."

Gilani added, without elaborating, that the government had ruled out any military option to free Gauthier Lefevre, 35, kidnapped last week in West Darfur state near the Chadian border.

For her part, International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Tamara al-Rifai said the kidnappers had asked for the ransom on Monday but stressed that the Red Cross did not discuss such demands.

"The policy of the ICRC is not to pay a ransom," she said, without disclosing any figure.

The ICRC said after a previous contact with the kidnappers that Lefevre was in good health.

This was the fifth abduction of a foreign worker since March when Sudan's ties with foreign aid groups soured after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

It is the first time a Red Cross employee has been targeted.

Last week, two female aid workers -- Irishwoman Sharon Commins and Ugandan Hilda Kawuki -- were freed after being held hostage for 107 days in Darfur.

An Irish newspaper quoted a Beshir advisor, Musa Hilal, as saying they were ransomed for 150,000 euros (225,000 dollars). Irish, Sudanese and Ugandan authorities denied they were freed in exchange for money.

Hilal later denied the report, saying he was not involved in negotiations to release the hostages.