News Article by AP posted on November 18, 2003 at 15:18:58: EST (-5 GMT)
Four aid workers, government employee missing in western Sudan
ECUBLENS, Switzerland, Nov 18, 2003 (AP) -- Four staff of the Swiss aid organization Medair and a government worker have been missing for a week in western Sudan, the agency said Tuesday.
The five, all Sudanese nationals, were in a vehicle that set out on Nov. 10 along with three truckloads of aid to be distributed in the towns of Silea and Kolbus, Medair said in a statement.
Contact was lost with the vehicle the following day. The three rented trucks returned without it and the drivers had no information about its whereabouts.
"Since then, intensive effort has been made into trying to locate them in the hope of reuniting them with the local Medair team based in El Genina, as well as their families," Medair said. It gave no further details.
The Swiss agency has been working in the Darfur region of Sudan, on the border with Chad, since June 2001, providing household items and shelter to up to 45,000 people who have been forced out of their homes by fighting in the region.
Last month, nine Sudanese relief workers of an American aid agency were killed during clashes between warring tribes in the region.
"In spite of the increasing insecurity affecting this area, Medair remains fully committed to continue its emergency response activities to support as many of these displaced people as possible. In the meantime, various avenues are being actively sought in order to locate the team," Medair said.
U.S. and U.N. officials estimate at least 7,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of others forced to flee their homes since fighting began earlier this year in Darfur, home to nearly a fifth of Sudan's 30 million people.
The rebellion began after a group demanding self-determination for the region attacked Sudanese government troops.