French hostage ‘spotted in Central Darfur’
People claim they have seen the Frenchman kidnapped in eastern Chad last month at the Um Kheir market in Wadi Salih.
Residents of the Um Kheir administration unit in Central Darfur’s Wadi Salih locality claim they have seen the Frenchman who was kidnapped in eastern Chad ilast month.
The witnesses told Radio Dabanga that they saw the captive and his abductor, Yousif Guttiya, nicknamed Kabro, having a meal at the Um Kheir market on Wednesday.
They said that Guttiya and his militiamen moved around on their motorcycles, transferring the French hostage from team to team.
The Chad Minister of Security Affairs, Ahmed Mohamed, announced on 23 March that a Frenchman was kidnapped from the area of Goz Beida, south of Abeche in eastern Chad. The kidnappers reportedly fled with him to Sudan.
End March, people in Habila in West Darfur told this station that the French hostage was sighted in the mountains in the area, together with Guttiya and five other militiamen riding motorcycles.
Border Guards
Guttiya is currently commander of the paramilitary Border Guards.
A source from the capital of West Darfur reported in March that Guttiya signed a peace deal with the West Darfur government in 2013, after he and his men split from a rebel group. The source attributed most of the attacks, robberies, and kidnaps in the region, including the abduction of three UNHCR staff members from El Geneina last year, to Guttiya and his men.
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