More news on Steve Godbold in Chad

I found this little post dated 18 October By Bonny Apunyu on Somalinet
The reason it has not surfaced before is because the Paper quoted his name as Steve Goldbold, and then later Goldberg....It appears that the Somali newspaper is quoting from the AFP directly for his article, suggesting a first or second level contact with the Tubu at the AFP.

A Somalinet is an online newspaper focused on mostly local Somali news. My experience with the newspaper is that it provides mostly reliable local news. I am somewhat surprise to find interest two thousand kilometers to the West in Chad.

...I wonder if there is a Somali - Northern Chad Rebel connection....

In either case here is a summary article as written on 18 October 2007 on Somalinet

-Shimron Issachar

Thu. October 18, 2007 11:48 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -

(SomaliNet) Northern Chadian Tubu rebels in Tibesti have captured a United States humanitarian worker participating in an aid project, rebels said on Thursday.

"The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) has detained an American aid worker... in the the area controlled by the MDJT," according to a statement obtained by AFP from a branch of the armed rebel group.

Cash Steve Goldbold was abducted on October 10 by Tubu rebels, MDJT leader Aboubakar Choua Dazi told AFP in a telephone interview. Goldbold, 48, is an evangelical Christian aid worker on mission for the Development Association of Tibesti, according to documents obtained by AFP.

The MDJT "suspects this person is in the service of the regime in N'Djamena to create division in the centre of the movement", said Dazi, saying that their hostage was "in good health and well-treated".

Goldbold was captured in the Tibesti area, some 1 000 kilometres north of the capital N'Djamena, he added.

"The local population tried to negotiate to free him," a member of his group told AFP on the condition of anonymity, confirming the abduction. The source said Goldberg, from Miami, Florida, had been in Chad since 1992. Goldbold has lived in the area "for the past five years, and he is not a foreigner" there, the source said, adding that he "has a Tubu name, Wordougou Mollia". The MDJT said in the statement it was "inclined to liberate this person" to send him back to "his own country," but warned the authorities "of all attempts to take him by force".

It "called on all foreign aid workers to not venture into the areas controlled by the MDJT". Created in 1988, MDJT once constituted a major threat to the Deby government, but was weakened and has split into several factions since the death of its founder Youssouf Togoimi in 2002.-AFP

The Rest @ Somalinet