UN condemns brief abduction of staff in Darfur

Khartoum, May 2: The United Nations today condemned a brief abduction of six members of the world body's refugee agency who were seized by unknown gunmen in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

The group, working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), were on a trip to the Um Shalaya camp for Chadian refugees in West Darfur on Monday when they were attacked, a UN statement issued in Khartoum said.

It said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva ''strongly condemns the temporary abduction''.

Aid workers say security in Darfur has worsened because of attacks by Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, rebel activities and bandits. Sudan says security was improving.

Several aid agencies said in April they were temporarily halting their activities in the town of Um Dukhun near the Chadian border in western Darfur because of increasing attacks against them.

The agencies, which include Britain's Oxfam and Save the Children Spain, said their decision would affect some 100,000 people in Um Dukhun and the surrounding rural areas.

The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million people been displaced in Darfur since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, charging it with neglect.

Many at the Um Shalaya camp, which houses around 5,000 Chadian refugees, say the camp was threatened by surrounding Arab nomadic tribes. Gunmen previously stole a UNHCR car at Um Shalaya and tried in April to storm the compound of an aid agency at the camp.

Reuters>