Darfur rebels seize 16 UN aid workers: Sudanese government

KHARTOUM, June 5 (AFP) — Rebels in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region took 16 UN aid workers hostage, said the Sudanese minister of state for foreign affairs Nejib al-Khari Abdel Wahab.

Abdel Wahab said the aid workers, all employees of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), were abducted by rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement in the Darfur region.

He said the United Nations has made contact with the rebels, adding that they have admitted that they are holding the aid workers and promised to release them.

Abdel Wahab condemned the incident and said he regretted the threats posed to the safety and security of employees of the UN and other aid agencies, particularly given the efforts they are exerting to restore stability in the Darfur region.

The alleged hostage-takers could not immediately be reached for comment.

When contacted in Nairobi, Ben Parker, the spokesman for the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, declined to confirm or deny the abduction.