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Sudan

Sudanese gov't takes measures to safeguard NGOs in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Mar 15, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX News Network) -- The Sudanese government announced Sunday that it had taken security measures to protect foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their offices in the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Sudanese commissioner for the humanitarian aid Hassabu Mohammed Abdel-Rahman made the announcement at a press conference one day after three foreign aid workers were released in Darfur by kidnappers.

The kidnappers have claimed that they carried out the abduction to protest against an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir.

Abdel-Rahman pledged that "there are security measures to protect organizations and their headquarters" and "there will be coordination between the Sudanese Ministry of the Interior and the security agencies and the local governments of the three states in Darfur."

He, meanwhile, disclosed that some U.S. and Italian organizations had submitted applications to take the places of 13 foreign NGOs expelled by the Sudanese government 10 days ago, saying "those requests are still under study."

Stressing the importance of the work of the UN agencies in Sudan, the Sudanese official said that "what the UN agencies have provided to Sudan is an inalienable right of Sudan as a member of the international organization."

A group of armed men kidnapped five employees of the Belgian branch of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in North Darfur State on Wednesday night, including a Canadian, a French and an Italian. Two kidnapped Sudanese employees of the aid relief organization were also kidnapped and set free with the three foreigners.

The released three foreign hostages arrived at the Khartoum Airport on Saturday evening after government negotiators successfully persuaded the kidnappers to free them without paying a ransom earlier in the day.

Osman Mohammed Yousef Kiber, the governor of North Darfur State who accompanied the three hostages to Khartoum, told reporters at the airport that the kidnappers called themselves as "al-Bashir's eagles."

The kidnappers also claimed that they had carried out the operation to protest against the ICC arrest warrant ICC against the Sudanese president, the governor noted.

The kidnapping probably heralded an escalation of tension in Sudan following the ICC issued the arrest warrant on March 4 against the Sudanese president for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

On March 5, the Sudanese government announced a sudden decision to expel 13 foreign NGOs operating in Darfur, accusing them of passing "false and fabricated information" to the ICC, a charge denied by relief agencies.