Rebels said to hold 22 health workers in Darfur amid search for 8 others
KHARTOUM, Aug 31 (AFP) — The Sudanese government rebels in Darfur had kidnapped 22 health workers in the strife-torn region, as the search continued for eight other missing Sudanese nationals working for international aid groups.
The spate of attacks came as the UN Security Council was preparing to discuss possible sanctions against Khartoum over the conflict in Darfur which has caused a major humanitarian crisis.
Officials said the 22 workers involved in a vaccination programme were seized by the Justice and Equality Movement in an area near the South Darfur state capital of Nyala, although there was no independent confirmation.
Another group of eight Sudanese nationals working for the Red Crescent and the UN’s World Food Programme were kidnapped over the weekend in Darfur.
A WFP spokeswoman said the abduction occurred 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher as the group was registering some of the more than 1.2 million people displaced by a government crackdown on ethnic minority rebels.
WFP spokeswoman Caroline Hurford said in Rome that “the search is continuing” for the eight, but added “we don’t know anything more.”
The government has also blamed that kidnapping on rebels that have been battling the army and allied militias for the past 18 months, although a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement denied any involvement.
“The Sudanese government said they have been taken, but we do not know. The Sudanese news agencies talk about rebels, but we don’t necessarily accept what they say,” Hurford added.
Sudanese rebel movements on Tuesday denied involvement in the kidnap of eight Sudanese nationals.
“We in the two movements have contacted all our commanders in the field and they have confirmed to us that they are not involved in the kidnap,” Ahmed Mohammed Tugod, chief negotiator for the Justice and Equality Movement, told AFP on the sidelines of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
“The area where the kidnap took place is controlled by government forces and the Janjaweed (the government-backed militia),” he said.
Her WFP colleague based in Nairobi, Peter Smerdon, said that WFP’s “Sudanese staff went missing along with members of the Sudanese Red Crescent on Saturday afternoon. Their last radio was at about 3:00 pm when they were in the area of Shangel Tubai about 30 kilometres south of El-Fasher.”
The Security Council is expected Thursday to hear a report on the situation in Darfur, where more than 30,000 people have been killed and an estimated 1.4 million people have fled their homes.
The council had set an August 30 deadline for Sudan to rein in the pro-government militias accused of conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign in Darfur and to ease restrictions on humanitarian aid in the region or face possible sanctions.