A member of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) was released on Tuesday hours after being abducted by the largely Christian anti-Balaka rebel group in Bangui.
"What we know is that the staff member was detained for some time this morning in Bangui," Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
"She is either back in the hands of the UN or on her way back to the hands of the UN, so she is safely released."
The kidnapping took place as the Catholic archbishop of Bangui was engaged in efforts to negotiate, in a separate kidnapping case, the release of a French charity worker and a local staff member who were abducted by anti-Balaka on Monday.
In the Tuesday case, armed men stopped a bus of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (Minusca) at a market place in Bangui's eighth district in the morning.
One of its passengers managed to flee while the other, a woman thought to be of Kurdish origin, was kidnapped, a local market vendor told dpa.
"We saw a white lady driving off in a taxi, with three anti-Balaka members at her side," a coffee merchant told dpa on condition of anonymity.
Minusca dispatched vehicles to search for the woman shortly after the abduction.
As news of the abduction spread, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga and local authorities were approaching the rebel leaders in an attempt to mediate in the conflict, local broadcaster Radio Ndeke Luka reported.
French peacekeepers stationed in CAR, meanwhile, surrounded the anti-Balaka controlled Bangui neighbourhood of Boy Rabe, where the hostages are believed to be held.
The two hostages, who work for the Catholic medical charity Diocesan Health Coordination, were kidnapped in the capital's Fouh area on Monday, allegedly in retribution for last week's arrest of anti-Balaka leader Rodrigue Ngaibona.
Four rebels armed with Kalachnikov machine guns stopped a car carrying three staff members of the charity.
The gunmen raided the vehicle, which was loaded with medical kits, and robbed the aid workers of their belongings.
The driver of the car was let go, while the two others were kidnapped.
The French government has demanded the immediate release of the French national, a 67-year-old woman.
CAR has suffered sectarian violence since Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew president Francois Bozize, a Christian, in March 2013.
Thousands of people have been killed and about 1 million displaced due to the conflict.
Abducted UN worker released in Central African Republic
A member of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) was released on Tuesday hours after being abducted by the largely Christian anti-Balaka rebel group in Bangui.
"What we know is that the staff member was detained for some time this morning in Bangui," Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
"She is either back in the hands of the UN or on her way back to the hands of the UN, so she is safely released."
The kidnapping took place as the Catholic archbishop of Bangui was engaged in efforts to negotiate, in a separate kidnapping case, the release of a French charity worker and a local staff member who were abducted by anti-Balaka on Monday.
In the Tuesday case, armed men stopped a bus of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (Minusca) at a market place in Bangui's eighth district in the morning.
One of its passengers managed to flee while the other, a woman thought to be of Kurdish origin, was kidnapped, a local market vendor told dpa.
"We saw a white lady driving off in a taxi, with three anti-Balaka members at her side," a coffee merchant told dpa on condition of anonymity.
Minusca dispatched vehicles to search for the woman shortly after the abduction.
As news of the abduction spread, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga and local authorities were approaching the rebel leaders in an attempt to mediate in the conflict, local broadcaster Radio Ndeke Luka reported.
French peacekeepers stationed in CAR, meanwhile, surrounded the anti-Balaka controlled Bangui neighbourhood of Boy Rabe, where the hostages are believed to be held.
The two hostages, who work for the Catholic medical charity Diocesan Health Coordination, were kidnapped in the capital's Fouh area on Monday, allegedly in retribution for last week's arrest of anti-Balaka leader Rodrigue Ngaibona.
Four rebels armed with Kalachnikov machine guns stopped a car carrying three staff members of the charity.
The gunmen raided the vehicle, which was loaded with medical kits, and robbed the aid workers of their belongings.
The driver of the car was let go, while the two others were kidnapped.
The French government has demanded the immediate release of the French national, a 67-year-old woman.
CAR has suffered sectarian violence since Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew president Francois Bozize, a Christian, in March 2013.
Thousands of people have been killed and about 1 million displaced due to the conflict.
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