- Three detained, accused of helping plan kidnapping
- Talk of ransoms paid encourages more kidnappings
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Sudan has arrested three Sudanese suspected of helping to kidnap a French/British Red Cross worker in Darfur, security and aid sources said on Tuesday.
Gauthier Lefevre was the fifth expatriate humanitarian worker to be kidnapped in Sudan since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir in March, accusing him of war crimes in western Sudan.
"We have arrested three people ... Sudanese ... and they are under interrogation," a senior official in Sudan's intelligence forces told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
He said the three were accused of helping to plan the kidnapping and were being held in the West Darfur capital el-Geneina.
Another security source said one of those detained was a woman, accused of letting the kidnappers stay at her home.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), which suspended operations in West Darfur after Lefevre's abduction, said it had no information on the detentions.
"The ICRC trusts that the authorities are taking all measures to ensure a smooth release," said ICRC spokeswoman Tamara al-Rifai.
Aid workers fear further abductions as Khartoum has not caught any of the kidnappers despite knowing their identities. Reports of ransoms being paid for those released have encouraged more kidnappings, they say.
Three French aid workers were kidnapped this month in east Chad and Central African Republic, both bordering Darfur.
West Darfur governor Abu el-Gasim told Reuters Sudan was waiting to see if they were taken into Darfur, where two staff from the U.N.-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission also remain in captivity after almost three months.
UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said they had had no direct contact with the hostages for three weeks. All the kidnappers have demanded ransoms but the ICRC and UNAMID are refusing to pay.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur in early 2003 accusing the central government of neglect. The ensuing counter-insurgency campaign drove some 2 million Darfuris from their homes, sparking a humanitarian crisis which the United Nations estimates has claimed 300,000 lives.
Washington calls the Darfur violence genocide, a term Khartoum rejects, putting the death toll at 10,000. (Additional reporting by Andrew Heavens in el-Fasher; editing by Tim Pearce) ((Khartoum newsroom; +249 912 167 378))
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