Sudan says rebels kidnap aid workers in Darfur

By Nima Elbagir

KHARTOUM, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Sudan said on Monday rebels had kidnapped eight U.N. and Red Crescent workers in the country’s western Darfur area, where aid agencies are struggling to feed and house one million villagers displaced by fighting.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement the rebels had seized workers from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Sudanese Red Crescent in the area of Shangal Tubaya (Northern Darfur) on Sunday.

“The outlaws do not want the security situation for the people of Darfur to stabilise and that is within the context of their behaviour, which has consistently targeted humanitarian work,” the statement said.

WFP spokesman Marcus Prior said three Sudanese working for WFP and five Sudanese Red Crescent workers were missing, but he did not say what had happened to them.

“Their last radio contact was at 1457 on Saturday afternoon (1157 GMT),” he said.

He said WFP had set up a crisis centre in Northern Darfur and four U.N. security officers were working on finding the missing workers.

After years of low-level conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources, rebels launched a revolt last year accusing Khartoum of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn African villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Khartoum admits arming militias to fight the rebellion but denies any links to the Janjaweed, who it says are outlaws.

Peace talks in Nigeria are stalled over disagreement about conditions in camps for the displaced in Darfur. Nigerian troops have arrived in Darfur to protect African Union observers of a shaky April ceasefire.