DARFUR / KIDNAP RELEASE (03:21)

14 December 2009

DARFUR / KIDNAP RELEASE (03:21)

Two civilian staff members of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) are released after more than 100 days in captivity in the war-torn western flank of Sudan. UNAMID

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Full Script

STORY: DARFUR / KIDNAP RELEASE
TRT: 3.21
SOURCE: UNAMID
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 13 DECEMBER 2009, EL-FASHER, NERTITI, ZALINGEI; 14 DECEMBER 2009, ZALINGEI, EL-FASHER

SHOTLIST

13 DECEMBER 2009, ZALINGEI, WESTERN SUDAN

1. Wide shot, vehicles with Pamela Ncube and Patrick Winful at the Zalingei compound
2. Close up, Pamela and Mohamed Yunis walking in the compound 
3. Close up, Pamela dancing with her colleagues
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Patrick Winful, released staff member, UNAMID:
 “I must confess that we sure feel very great. At the same time, you know we’d like to express our appreciation to the contributions of the UN as a whole and the government of Sudan for their contribution towards expediting.” 
5. Close up, Patrick and Pamela
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“I was very much happy. It was joyful. I think the whole community was looking forward to seeing them coming back home. And it was a very important moment for all of us and we really enjoy seeing them.”
7. Pan left, Yonis and General Ahmed Tayeb Abu-Guroun
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) General Ahmed Tayeb Abu-Guroun, Head of Sudanese National Security in Western Darfur:
“We really appreciate the role played by UNAMID and we are happy to see good cooperation between UNAMID and the government of Sudan.”

13 DECEMBER 2009, EL-FASHER, DARFUR

9. Med shot, Yonis boarding a UN helicopter

13 DECEMBER 2009, NERTITI, WEST DARFUR

10. Med shot, the delegation getting out of the helicopter
11. Wide shot, the Nertiti camp
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“The kidnappers, from what I understood, are headed by a gentleman called Matar Khierallah. We have never met them. We have been talking to them through the phone, through our Zalingei office. There are quite a number of them. We don’t really have a lot of information on them.”
13. Various shots, the delegation waiting for the news inside a cafeteria

13 DECEMBER 2009, ZALINGEI, WESTERN SUDAN

14. Wide shot, helicopter
15. Med shot, the delegation at the airport

14 DECEMBER 2009, ZALINGEI, WESTERN SUDAN

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“I think one of the most difficult issues I’ve ever dealt with it was emotionally difficult and we were all concerned, because you always think each and every night about the fact that they are alive, that they were eating, they were healthy. So it was a very difficult thing for all of us as a mission and in particular for myself.”
17. Zoom in, the delegation and Patrick at breakfast
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Patrick Winful, released staff member, UNAMID:
“I already spoke with my family and Pamela spoke with her children, too. And they are very great and very happy. I’m looking forward to joining them there as soon as possible.”
19. Med shot, Patrick greeted by his colleagues
20. Med shot, Pamela and Patrick inside the helicopter

14 DECEMBER 2009, EL FASHER, DARFUR

21. Med shot, Henry Anyidoho welcoming Pamela and Patrick
22. Pan left, press conference
23. Med shot, Pamela and Patrick
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Henry Anyidoho, Deputy Joint Special Representative, UNAMID:
“I have no doubt that the abduction and eventual release of Pamela and Patrick will not affect our commitment to serve the people of Darfur and I would like to seize this opportunity to warn those responsible for kidnapping international peacekeepers and humanitarian workers to desist from such practices.”
25. Med shot, Patrick and Pamela shaking hands with Anyidoho

STORYLINE:

For the first time in 107 days, Pamela Ncube and Patrick Winful set foot on the compound of the African Union United Nations Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur.

Sunday evening, the two kidnapped UN workers arrived in Zalingei and were immediately welcomed by their colleagues.

On August 29, Pamela, a native of Zimbabwe, and Patrick, who is from Nigeria, were abducted at gunpoint in the town of Zalingei. And now, more than three months later, they are free.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Patick Winful, Released staff member, UNAMID:
 “I must confess that we sure feel very great. At the same time, you know we’d like to express our appreciation to the contributions of theUN as a whole and the government of Sudan for their contribution towards expediting.”

UNAMID’s Crisis Management Team, led by Deputy Joint Special Representative, Mohammed Yonis has been dealing with this case for more than three months.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“I was very much happy. It was joyful. I think the whole community was looking forward to seeing them coming back home. And it was a very important moment for all of us and we really enjoy seeing them.”

The government of Sudan has been the leading authority on this issue. The government had been working to release the hostages unharmed.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) General Ahmed Tayeb Abu-Guroun, Head of Sudanese National Security in Western Darfur
“We really appreciate the role played by UNAMID and we are happy to see good cooperation between UNAMID and the government of Sudan.”

Sunday morning, a special delegation flew from El-Fasher, and landed at the UNAMID camp of Nertiti around noon, where the hostage takers were expected to drop off Pamela and Patrick.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“The kidnappers, from what I understood, are headed by a gentleman called Matar Khierallah. We have never met them. We have been talking to them through the phone, through our Zalingei office. There are quite a number of them. We don’t really have a lot of information on them.”

After six hours of waiting, and a change in the drop off point from Nertiti to  Zalingei, Pamela and Patrick were finally released.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, UNAMID:
“I think one of the most difficult issues I’ve ever dealt with, it was emotionally difficult and we were all concerned, because you always think each and every night about the fact that they are alive, that they were eating, they were healthy. So it was a very difficult thing for all of us as a mission and in particular for myself.”

Upon arrival, Pamela and Patrick were taken to the hospital in the compound for a medical checkup. According to UNAMID’s doctors, they are doing fine.

SOUNDBITE (English) Patick Winful, released staff member, UNAMID:
“I already spoke with my family and Pamela spoke with her children, too. And they are very great and very happy. I’m looking forward to joining them there as soon as possible.”

On Monday,  UNAMID’s Deputy Joint Special Representative, Henry Anyidoho emphasized to reporters at a press conference that UNAMID is in Darfur to help the peace process for the local people and criticized kidnappers in the region.

SOUNDBITE (English) Henry Anyidoho, Deputy Joint Special Representative, UNAMID:
“I have no doubt that the abduction and eventual release of Pamela and Patrick will not affect our commitment to serve the people of Darfur and I would like to seize this opportunity to warn those responsible for kidnapping international peacekeepers and humanitarian workers to desist from such practices.”

UNAMID was established in 2007 to try to quell the violence in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million others displaced as a result of a conflict pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen since 2003.

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