Sudan declares public works team missing in Darfur

Nov 5, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — A team of nine people working on a public works project in South Darfur has been missing for a fortnight, a Sudanese official said Sunday, warning that the authorities would suspend such work until the team was freed.

The nine conisted of five water engineers, a health official and three drivers, state development minister Ramadan Salim Abu Kalam was quoted as saying by the official SUNA news agency.

They had been working on drilling wells and installing water pumps at the Silaiah displaced persons camp in Shairiya when they were reported missing on October 23.

The ministry “cannot work in such conditions of insecurity,” he said, adding that his ministry would “not send any other team before the fate of the members of the missing team is made known.”

The Khartoum government signed a May peace agreement with the largest Darfur rebel faction but it failed to secure the support of two other factions and the fighting has since intensified.

According to the United Nations, at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of fighting, famine and disease since the ethnic minority rebels rose up in early 2003, drawing a scorched earth response from the government. Some sources say the toll is much higher.

(AFP)