Darfur rebels free Sudanese policeman

EL-FASHIR, Sudan, Nov 8 (AFP) — Ethnic minority rebels in Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur have freed a policeman they had held for eight days, African Union monitors said Monday.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels ride a patrol truck on the way to one of their bases in Gellab, North Darfur, Sudan. (AFP).

Yehya Abdul Karim Mohammed, 18, said he had been captured in an attack on his convoy in the region’s central Jebel Marra massif in which a fellow policeman was killed.

Security conditions in Darfur have deteriorated sharply in
recent weeks amid renewed clashes between government forces and the
rebels.

The Spanish branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said Sunday that it had withdrawn its staff from the Jebel Marra region because of the fighting.