UN continues Sudan aid operatios after 2 killed

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 15, 2004 (AP) — The U.N. continued its humanitarian operations in Sudan ‘s troubled South Darfur area following a shooting that killed two aid workers, the agency said.

A young Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebel marches through the mountain village of Deribat in South Darfur state in western Sudan November 16, 2004.

The Sudanese employees of Save the Children – Abhakar el Tayeb, a medical assistant, and mechanic Yacoub Abdelnabi Ahmed – were “brutally killed” Sunday when their convoy came under fire in South Darfur, the U.N. statement said.

It didn’t say who fired on the convoy.

Two main rebel groups are fighting government troops in Darfur in a bid for more power and resources. The U.N. describes the conflict as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and international aid agencies have been struggling to feed and shelter almost 2 million people in need of aid.

Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman for the U.N. in Sudan , said the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian.

Save the Children U.K., which works closely with the U.N. on humanitarian assistance in Darfur, operates a food center and medical clinics in the area.

“We deplore this brutal killing of humanitarian workers in Darfur. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of our Sudanese colleagues,” Ken Caldwell, director of International Operations for Save the Children, said in the statement.

Also Monday, Sudanese government and rebel negotiators met for the first time for talks on ending the crisis. Earlier talks produced an accord on humanitarian access to the displaced and pledges to end hostilities – promises that were immediately violated.

The African Union, which is mediating the talks, said 13 violations of a cease-fire agreement were confirmed in September and 54 were documented between October and mid-December.

Disease and famine have killed 70,000 in Darfur since March, the World Health Organization says. There is no official reckoning of the overall toll of the war, which was sparked in February 2003 when two non-Arab African rebel groups took up arms to fight for more power and resources.

The Sudanese government responded by backing an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, which is accused of targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.