An upsurge of violence in Darfur with rebels killing and abducting African Union forces may force the United Nations to partly suspend aid to the western Sudanese region, UN chief Kofi Annan warned on Monday.
A breakaway faction of the guerrilla Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) kidnapped 38 AU personnel on Sunday, a day after the 53-nation pan-African organisation suffered its first casualties in the arid region, AU officials said.
JEM fighters helped secure the release of the hostages after gunbattles with the kidnappers, one of the freed hostages and JEM commanders said. The splinter group denied it was involved in the kidnappings.
The Cameroonian leader of the AU team, who was one of the last two hostages still being held on Monday, confirmed that he and his Sudanese translator had been freed after a shootout.
"We are safe - there was some firing but they managed to liberate us," he said by phone, declining to give his name.
On Saturday, three AU soldiers and two civilian contractors were killed further south after an ambush blamed on Darfur's main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
"Both rebels and government must understand that, if these incidents continue, it will impede humanitarian assistance and delivery," Annan told a news conference in Geneva.
"It's already impeding access to some of the people in need and it may require a cessation of operations in some parts of the territory," the UN secretary-general said.
The AU deploys 6,000 troops to monitor a shaky cease-fire in Darfur, where non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003 accusing the government of neglect and of monopolising power and wealth.
Aid agencies in recent weeks have denounced bandits for growing attacks on aid convoys attempting to deliver supplies in Darfur, where the revolt against Khartoum has killed tens of thousands and forced 2 million people to flee their homes.
The increase in violence, coinciding with the start of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja, prompted the AU last week to voice its harshest public criticism yet of Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government.
Annan said it was Sudan's duty to protect both aid workers and AU peacekeepers on its territory, even if it was rebels who were responsible for the hostage-taking.
Civilians continued to suffer in Darfur, where rapes and other crimes are being committed, according to the UN chief.
"A firm stand must be taken by the government," he said.
The leader of the JEM breakaway faction denied involvement in Sunday's kidnappings but accused the AU of taking sides.
"The AU have become part of the conflict," Mohamed Saleh told Reuters from Darfur. "We want the AU to leave and we have warned them not to travel to our areas."
A sixth round of AU-sponsored talks began last month between the government and the two main Darfur rebel groups, the SLA and the JEM. But the negotiations have been plagued by rebel divisions and violence on the ground.
AU sources said Saleh's group, which split from JEM's leadership earlier this year, was demanding a seat at the Abuja talks.
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