West Sudan rebels release aid workers

CAIRO, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Rebels in the west of Sudan have released four aid workers and a Sudan government employee they said they rescued from another militia who kidnapped them.

An official from MEDAIR, a Swiss-based aid agency, confirmed four of its Sudanese workers and the government employee had been handed over on Saturday night on the border with neighbouring Chad, and were now in good health in Chad.

President of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, Khalil Ibrahim, told Reuters from the Netherlands: “We released the workers in the town of Tina to officials from Medecins Sans Frontieres, witnessed by the Chadian government.”

He said his group had rescued the workers after they were captured in the western Darfur region by Arab militias. His group did not release them immediately for fear they would be kidnapped again, he said.

The Khartoum government had accused another western rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), of abducting the workers and killing two of them, a charge that group denied. The SLM/A emerged as a fighting force in February, saying Khartoum marginalised the poor, arid Darfur region.

During peace talks in neighbouring Chad, the two sides agreed earlier this month to extend a ceasefire into November. The SLM/A deny any official links with Ibrahim’s movement, but say they hold talks with the group’s leaders.

Ibrahim said however the two groups often launched joint attacks in Darfur as they had the same aims.

“Khartoum monopolises power. We want a president from Darfur… and an equal share in the wealth and resources,” he said, adding the group also wanted autonomy for Darfur.

Sudan is currently in peace talks with a separate southern-based rebel group aimed at ending a two-decade-old civil war that has killed almost two million people, mainly due to famine and disease.