Sudan government: Rebels kidnap 4 local reporters,2 aid workers

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug 24, 2004 (AP) — Sudan ‘s government Tuesday accused rebels in the western Darfur region of kidnapping four local television journalists and two government-affiliated relief workers.

The six were abducted Monday 30 kilometers south of the southern Darfur town of Nyala on their way to film a documentary about refugees returning to the Abga Rajil area of South Darfur province, according to the government-run Sudan Media Center.

It didn’t say which rebel group was behind the kidnapping.

The journalists, who worked for the official Darfur television network, were identified as Mahadi Algareeb Abdul Aziz, Sulieman Sharoofa, Hussein Sheikh Eddin and Abdul Rahaman Hamid Ajabna.

Aid workers Yassir Ishaq Ismail and Ambadi Hassan of the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission were taken with them, according to the Sudan Media Center’s report.

Meanwhile, Sudan ‘s ministry of interior said that the rebels attacked two police units Tuesday which were sent to protect civilians in Darfur. No casualties were reported.

At peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, the chairman of one of the key rebel groups, Abdelwahid Muhamed El Nur, denied his Sudan Liberation Army had any involvement in the hostage-takings or attacks on police units. Other rebel group representatives couldn’t be reached for comment.

In June, Sudanese rebels stopped and held 16 international aid workers for about three days. The Sudanese government accused the Sudan Liberation Army of kidnapping the aid workers. U.N. officials stopped short of that, but Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland warned then that the detention and delayed release of the aid workers was “totally unacceptable.”

African rebels rose against the government in February 2003, claiming discrimination in the distribution of scarce resources in the western provinces. U.N. officials accuse the government of trying to crush the revolt by backing a scorched earth policy carried out by Arab militias. Khartoum denies that.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million forced to flee their homes in what the U.N. has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.