170+ UN members leave Darfur

2008-07-16 21:07

Khartoum - The UN has flown more than 170 staff members out of Darfur with peacekeepers on alert following a deadly attack and moves to charge Sudan's president with war crimes, an official said on Wednesday.

"Today we had about 100 people who left. One flight in the morning and one flight in the afternoon from Darfur and they travelled to Entebbe," said Josephine Guerrero, spokesperson for the UN-led mission called UNAMID.

Another 46 were air-lifted from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state where the joint AU-UN mission is based, bound for Al-Obeid, the capital of Northern Kordofan in central Sudan.

Thirty-two staff members left Nyala, the capital of South Darfur on Tuesday, bringing the total to around 178 in the last two days.

The numbers leaving are a fraction of the some 10 000 UNAMID staff deployed the western region of Sudan. Officials said staff could return within days or weeks if the mission downgrades its security alert.

UNAMID is flying out non-essential staff following months of worsening security despite assurances from Sudan that it would protect peacekeepers.

Officials feared a violent backlash after International Criminal Court chief prosecutor on Monday sought an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on 10 counts including war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

Seven UNAMID peacekeepers died and 22 wounded in an ambush by heavily armed militia on July 8, the deadliest in a series of attacks since the UN assumed command of peacekeeping in the region last December.

- AFP