GENEVA, September 26, 2007--Three ACT-Caritas staff have been released into police custody after they were detained by an armed group over the weekend in Zalingei, west Darfur. The three staff were held for close to 30 hours and work for ACT-Caritas through ACT member, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).

Immediately following the incident, all non-life saving ACT-Caritas operations in and around Zalingei were suspended and non-essential staff were sent home.

John Distefano, director of the ACT-Caritas Darfur Emergency Response, said, "We are very pleased that our three staff members are safe and we expect them to be in our care as soon as possible. A team is also currently investigating the entire matter."

"We have strict security protocols in place to safeguard our staff and ensure that we don't inadvertently put those we assist at risk, but security is very fluid in this area," added Mr. Distefano.

Over the past two months insecurity had already reduced the ability of the ACT-Caritas operation to provide humanitarian assistance in and around Zalingei.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in August that insecurity is negatively affecting the quantity and quality of aid to hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur.

Further details on the incident and future operations in Zalingei will be released in the near future.

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Action by Churches Together International (ACT) and Caritas Internationalis (CI) are working together in a joint response to the Darfur crisis. ACT International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide. Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations present in 200 countries and territories.

For further information, please contact: Sidney Traynham, ACT Assistant Communications Officer (office: +41 22 791 6711 / mobile: +41 79 681 1868)