3 aid workers taken hostage in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Armed men stormed an aid agency compound in Darfur and kidnapped three Westerners, heightening fears that foreigners will be targeted in the backlash over the international arrest warrant for Sudan’s president.

The three workers for Doctors Without Borders were kidnapped late Wednesday in a government-controlled area in northern Darfur, close to a stronghold of government-allied Arab militiamen known as janjaweed.

The Sudanese government condemned the attack and denied any involvement. But officials quickly blamed the arrest warrant issued last week by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court accusing President Omar al-Bashir of war crimes in Darfur.

“Anything that goes wrong [since the warrant] onwards I personally attribute to the ICC decision,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Youssef said.

Ali Sadiq, another Foreign Ministry official, told Al-Jazeera television that his ministry had warned that the warrant “encourages lawlessness and armed groups to target aid groups and their workers.”

Late Thursday, a state-linked media organization said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom. Quoting the governor of North Darfur, the Sudan Media Center said local government officials had begun negotiations.

“The kidnappers asked for a ransom and they reassured us that they don’t want violence,” Gov. Osman Kebir was quoted as saying. The report did not say how much money was demanded.

Kebir said he had phoned the kidnappers at a number sent to him by the abductors and also had spoken with the captives, who said they were in good condition, according to the report.

Al-Bashir’s government has been warning since even before the warrant was issued March 4 that the case could lead to revenge attacks by Sudanese, though it said it would try to protect aid workers, peacekeepers and other foreigners.

Sudan has vehemently denounced the warrant as a “colonialist” attempt to destabilize the country. After it was announced, Khartoum retaliated by expelling the 13 biggest aid groups working in Darfur, accusing them of helping the court.

The expulsion has sparked fears of a humanitarian crisis in the region, where the government and rebels have been fighting for six years and several million people rely on international agencies for food, shelter and water.

The Dutch and French branches of Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, were among the expelled aid groups. But the abducted staffers belonged to its Belgian branch, which was allowed to remain along with the Spanish and Swiss branches and dozens of other smaller aid groups.