Sudanese Darfur rebels deny having held aid workers

AL-FASHER, Sudan, Sep 1 (AP) — The rebel Sudan Liberation Army Wednesday denied having held a group of aid workers released Wednesday in the troubled Darfur region.

Minni Minnawi, SLA secretary-general, denied the rebels had detained the workers, saying instead that they had been held by civilians until the rebels intervened to free them.

“These people were kidnapped by civilians because the civilians suspected they were government people. Our people saw and gave back those people.”

Barry Came of the U.N. World Food Program said the six aid workers – three from WFP and three from the Sudanese Red Crescent – were safe and well after negotiations with their Sudan Liberation Army captors secured their release.

International aid agencies are stepping up efforts in rebel-controlled areas of Darfur, with UNICEF saying Wednesday it had just vaccinated up to 50,000 children against polio during a mission that saw workers traveling by camel and donkey to reach people sheltering in the bush.

The crisis ensued after two African rebel factions that took up arms in February 2003 claiming discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in the capital Khartoum.

Human rights groups, the U.S. Congress and U.N. officials accuse the government of trying to crush the rebellion by backing Arab militiamen in a scorched earth campaign. Khartoum has repeatedly denied backing the militia, known as the Janjaweed, who are blamed for killing thousands, raping women and driving more than 1 million villagers from their homes.

Sasha Westerbig, an Al-Fasher-based spokeswoman for UNICEF, returned late Tuesday from the polio-vaccination campaign in a barren region nine hours’ drive north of Al-Fasher, capital of North Darfur.

She said the joint UNICEF-World Health Organization team had received excellent cooperation from commanders in the field of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army.

Westerbig said workers plan to vaccinate 150,00 children against measles in the same area between Sept. 4-7, with the help of WFP helicopters.

Westerbig told The Associated Press that many in the region were sheltering in the bush, living on berries and goat meat, too afraid to stay in their mud-and-straw hut settlements in case they were attacked by helicopter or planes by government forces.

Westerbig said the area had few wells and little basic infrastructure. The team encountered people suffering from malaria and waterborne diseases.