CAIRO, EGYPT — A group that abducted a female Japanese doctor and a male Dutch nurse serving as aid workers in Ethiopia is demanding $3 million in ransom, a man claiming to be leader of the group told Kyodo News by phone Friday.

The Japanese woman, 32-year-old Keiko Akahane, told Kyodo by phone that she is in good health but having trouble sleeping. The Dutch nurse is also in good health and safe, she said.

Akahane and the Dutchman, aid workers with the French medical aid group Doctors of the World, were abducted Sept 22 in Ethiopia near the border with Sudan and are currently being held in Sudan. The man claiming to be the group’s leader said the group initially demanded the release of prisoners in Ethiopia but now their demand is money.