Sudan turns down request for aid agencies to extend operations

KHARTOUM, March 15 (AFP) — Sudan Monday rejected proposals by international humanitarian agencies operating in the Darfur region in the west of the country to extend their operations to areas controlled by the rebels.

State Foreign Minister Najeib al-Khair Abdel Wahab told reporters the request had been made by UN, European Union and non-governmental organisations but they were told this was turned down because their equipment might fall into rebel hands.

On March 2, the US State Department said the Darfur crisis threatened one million people, and deplored the “refusal of local as well as national authorities to permit unrestricted access” to humanitarian workers.

The minister also told reporters that Darfur rebels had abducted two Chinese workers in an attack on Buram town in South Darfur State.

He said the two Chinese, specialists in drilling water wells, were seized on a site eight kilometres (five miles) south of the town. The rebels also stole the workers’ equipment.

Earlier, the government had announced that rebels had killed two policemen and wounded one in an attack on Buram on Saturday during which they had burnt down government offices.

A rebellion erupted in Darfur in February last year amid charges that the central government had neglected to promote economic development in the impoverished region neighbouring Chad.