Sudan

Aid workers kidnapped in Darfur

Article published on the 2009-03-12 Latest update 2009-03-12 17:31 TU

(Photo: Reuters)

Three foreign aid workers remain captive after a group of workers from the aid group Médécins Sans Frontières was kidnapped at gunpoint. Five people were originally seized from the MSF offices in North Darfur on Wednesday night but two Sudanese workers were later released.

The three people still being held include a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French administrator. The head of Sudan's Commission for Human Rights Associations, Mohamed Abdel Rahman, said the captives had talked by phone to colleagues and that they were in good health.

French and Dutch branches of MSF were expelled from Darfur last week after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrent for President Omar al-Beshir. Over 180 aid workers have since left Sudan.

The Sudanese government accuses aid groups of working with the ICC but the expulsions have been criticised by US President Barack Obama, who said they had led to a "potential crisis of even greater dimensions".

Elizabeth Byrs, Spokesperson for the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva says that last year in Darfur at least 185 vehicles were hijacked or stolen while there were 91 attacks on humanitarian centres.

She describes this as "nothing new" saying she didn't think the kidnappings were encouraged by recent statements from Khartoum and the explusion of NGOs.

"300 internationals were in the country," she says,"183 have left, the others are waiting exit visas to depart". "The majority of the humanitarian workers are Sudanese humanitarian workers," she says,"and they had to stop their activities".