Kenyan authorities have apparently issued a statement that might deal a major blow to the rescue operations in search of the missing Cuban doctors.
According to Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, the government will neither pay ransom nor negotiate with Al Shabaab militants over the release of two medics abducted in Mandera several months ago.
“We do not negotiate ransom as a matter of government policy but the operation to rescue the two Cuban doctors is ongoing,” CS Juma said as quoted by Daily Nation.
The SC spoke during a meeting with Frederica Mogherini, the European Union (EU) representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The news now throws the rescue operations into a state of uncertainty.
This happens even as reports indicated that suspected Al Shabaab militia were holding the duo in El Adde while demanding a hefty ransom of at least Sh150 million for their release.
At the moment, the duo is said to be offering medical services to wounded militants in their hideouts pending their release upon the payment of ramsom by the Kenyan authorities.
The two Cuban medics, Herera Corea who is a general physician and Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon, went missing on the morning of April 12, as they headed to work in Mandera county hospital.