Three international aid workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been kidnapped in Darfur, officials said today, further jeopardising humanitarian operations in western Sudan.
The three workers from the medical charity's Belgian arm were seized along with two Sudanese as tension rose in Sudan following the International Criminal Court's decision last week to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over accusations of war crimes in Darfur.
"This will be a further blow to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in that area, so the consequences are also extremely worrying for the population, the civilians of Darfur," Christopher Stokes, general director of MSF Belgium, told reporters in Brussels.
MSF in Belgium said the two Sudanese were quickly released but the three foreigners were still being held. It identified them as a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French coordinator.
Sudan shut down 16 aid organisations after the ICC decision, saying they had helped the court in the Hague, an accusation aid groups deny. Two arms of MSF were among those asked to leave, although MSF Belgium was not among them.
MSF said it would withdraw most staff from Darfur where conflict has simmered since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003. International experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed in the western region, while Khartoum says 10,000 have died.
"Medecins Sans Frontieres is in the process of withdrawing its last teams from the field, from Darfur. The only staff who will be staying there will be dedicated to the liberation of our colleagues," MSF Belgium's Mr Stokes said.
Sudan's foreign ministry condemned the kidnappings and said the abducted aid workers were thought to be in good health and had not been harmed.
"I promise this conduct will never be repeated. I want to confirm that the government is ready to provide security for all the NGOs," the head of Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission, Hassabo Mohamed Abd el-Rahman, told reporters.
Money may have been a motive, he said.
The kidnapping took place in Saraf Omra in north Darfur, where MSF Belgium runs a health clinic and dispensary serving tens of thousands of people, said Susan Sandars, an MSF spokeswoman in Nairobi, Kenya. UNAMID said the kidnapping took place late on Wednesday, while Sudan said it was today.
In one speech last week Mr Bashir said the expelled groups were "spies and thieves," and a pro-government newspaper printed a photo of one international aid worker, saying the officer was an intelligence officer for Israel, an arch-foe of Sudan.
Reuters