The Ugandan government will not pay ransom for the release of its citizen kidnapped by armed gunmen in Sudan's Darfur region, an official said here on Friday.
"We don't believe in paying ransom because it can become endless and can become an industry of its own," said Sam Kutesa, Uganda's foreign minister, while addressing reporters here.
"If someone is abducted and you pay in ransom, the next thing, why not abduct another and get more," he said.
Six gunmen snatched a Ugandan woman named Hilda Kawuki and her Irish colleague Sharon Commins from their compound in the northern Darfur region of Kutum last week. They were working for the Irish aid group, GOAL.
The Sudanese state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel- Baqi Jailani, said on Thursday the kidnappers had demanded for ransom and set a deadline.
Kutesa said the Ugandan, Sudanese and Irish governments have opened negotiations with Darfur rebels for the release of the kidnapped aid workers.
"There are negotiations going on to secure their release," he said, noting that "This is a very sensitive matter. We don't want to endanger the lives of those abducted."
Five aid workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres and two from the French Aide Medicale Internationale were also abducted in two cases but released later this year.
The series of abductions have struck a blow to the vital aid effort in the remote desert region, now in its sixth year of conflict.