Kidnapped missionary

SUDANESE and Salesian officials are uncertain of the whereabouts of an Indian missionary kidnapped in Sudan one year ago who has been rumoured to be free or about to be freed.
Salesian Fr James Pulikkal and a Ugandan boy were kidnapped by the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement on November 8, 1986, according to a statement from the Salesians of Don Bosco in New Rochelle. Fr Pulikkal had been staying at a Catholic mission in Tonj, Sudan.
The statement said officials at Salesian headquarters in Rome were aware of rumours the priest had been released, but they knew of no contact with Fr Pulikkal or his kidnappers. The statement said Sudanese church authorities have been trying to arrange Fr Pulikkal's release with rebel leader John Garang in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It said the response from Ethiopia has been that the priest "is well and safe."
Fr Pulikkal, 36, had worked among the Dinka tribe in Tonj since 1982, teaching religion in government schools and organising youth work in the parish. He also had worked in other missions in war-torn southern Sudan.
In February the International Red Cross in Sudan reported that the priest and the boy were released between the southern city of Wau and Tonj. However, Salesian Fr Thomas Thayil, the order's delegate for East Africa, could not confirm the report.