French hostages 'in good health'

Gauthier Lefevre, who also holds British nationality, was kidnapped on October 22 in West Darfur in Sudan near the border with Chad.

Two French employees of the Red Cross kidnapped in Chad and Sudan are "in good health", an official said Tuesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had - managed to establish telephone contact with the kidnappers of both - men.

ICRC officials were also able to - speak directly to Gauthier (Lefevre) and Laurent (Maurice). They both say they are in good health - said Daniel Duvillard, head of operations for East Africa.

- At this stage, we do not know if there is a link between these two incidents.... We do not know exactly what is behind these kidnappings nor what the kidnappers' motives are and we do not want to speculate - he added.

- We have effectively had a ransom demand for Gauthier, but the ICRC does not pay ransoms as a matter of policy. We will continue to do everything we can, using all channels of communication, to secure the release of Gauthier and Laurent - he said.

Gauthier Lefevre, who also holds British nationality, was kidnapped on October 22 in West Darfur in Sudan near the border with Chad.

They later demanded a million euros (1.5 million dollars) to free him.

On November 9, armed men seized Laurent Maurice, an agronomist who was in east Chad to assess recent harvests, in the village of Kawa, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with Sudan.

Lefevre's abduction was the fifth of a foreign worker since March, when Sudan's ties with foreign relief organisations soured after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir on charges relating to war crimes in Darfur.

It was the first time a Red Cross employee was targeted.