Red Cross stands by choice to name kidnapped nurse

The International Committee of the Red Cross is standing by its decision to publicly name the kidnapped New Zealand nurse Louisa Akavi despite strong objection from the New Zealand government. The organisation has confirmed that the 62-year-old was kidnapped by Islamic State in Syria in 2013. Yesterday it released information about her case to the public for the first time, in a plea for information about her and two Syrian drivers, Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes, who were captured with her. At a press conference last night the agency's director of operations, Dominik Stillhart, said via live stream from Geneva he was surprised at the Prime Minister's objection to the decision to go public, because, according to him, it was taken with full cooperation of the New Zealand government.