US aid official wounded in Darfur ambush

KHARTOUM, Mar 22, 2005 (Xinhua) — An official of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was wounded by gunfire in Sudan’s western Darfur region, said the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

Sudanese men unload sacks of sorghum during a delivery of aid from the World Food Program in Kalma Camp, near Nyala town, Darfur. (AFP).

The ministry said in a statement that a USAID motorcade was ambushed while on the way from Kass to Niyala in Darfur, but it did not reveal further details.

The ministry strongly condemned the “unjustifiable attacks” against the aid official and other humanitarian workers in Darfur and offered to help transport the US official to receive proper medical treatment.

It also reaffirmed the Sudanese government’s determination to exert utmost efforts to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and to ensure safety of the humanitarian workers in the conflict- plagued region.

The statement said Khartoum would investigate into the incident as soon as possible and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Violence flared up in Sudan’s Darfur region in February 2003. During the two-year clash, many people have been killed and many more displaced.