Joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur says 2 of its foreign civilian workers kidnapped

September 20th, 2009 Sudan claims further victories in north DarfurKHARTOUM, Sudan — The Sudanese army said Sunday it has cleared several more areas of rebel control in North Darfur province ahead of peace talks set for October. Rebels denied the government claims.

September 4th, 2009 Denmark to send 140 peacekeepers to LebanonCOPENHAGEN — Denmark says it plans to send about 140 troops to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

July 31st, 2009 NEW YORK - The UN Security Council Thursday extended the mandate of UN peacekeeping troops in Sudan's troubled Darfur province for another year. That means that UNAMID, the joint UN and African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur, will stay at least until July 2010.

July 24th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The UN and the African Union have named a Rwandan lieutenant-general to head the joint peacekeeping mission in Darfur in western Sudan, officials said Friday. Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, 42, will serve as the military head of the mission from Sep 1, UN officials said.

July 18th, 2009 Official: 3 aide workers kidnapped in KenyaNAIROBI, Kenya — Gunmen have seized three foreign aid workers in northern Kenya and taken them across the border into Somalia, a security official said Saturday. Roughly 10 gunmen arrived late on Friday night at a house in the border town of Mandera where the workers were staying, shot the watchman in the head and kidnapped the three, the official said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

July 14th, 2009 Sudan criticizes Obama for calling Darfur genocideKHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan's government has criticized President Barack Obama for calling the conflict in Darfur a "genocide." Obama made the comment in a speech over the weekend in the African nation of Ghana. There has been a long-running debate over whether to characterize the conflict between Sudan's Arab-led government and ethnic African rebels in Darfur as a genocide.

July 12th, 2009 Sudan: Kidnapped aid workers in good healthKHARTOUM, Sudan — Two foreign aid workers kidnapped by gunmen in Sudan's restive Darfur region are in good health and have been allowed to speak to their relatives, a government official said Sunday. Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel-Baqi Jailani, said efforts to free the hostages were progressing.

July 4th, 2009 Ireland seeks release of Darfur aid workersDUBLIN, Ireland — The head of an Irish humanitarian aid agency appealed Saturday for the release of two of its employees kidnapped in Darfur. John O'Shea, chief executive of GOAL, said the group had not heard from the abductors of Irishwoman Sharon Commins, 32, and her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kuwuki, 42.

June 30th, 2009 US ready to beef up UN peacekeeping operationsUNITED NATIONS — The United States is prepared to provide more military observers, police and civilian staff to beef up the U.N.'s far-flung peacekeeping operations, the U.S. ambassador said Monday.

May 25th, 2009 KHARTOUM - At least 20 Sudanese soldiers and 43 insurgents have been killed in fighting in the restive Darfur region, as rebels fought a pitched battle with the security forces before being crushed, leaving more than 300 people homeless, officials said Monday. The fighting started Sunday after the armed rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) group attacked the government soldiers to gain control of the Umm Baru area in North Darfur State.

May 8th, 2009 Gunmen kill Darfur peacekeeper during carjackingCAIRO — Gunmen shot and killed an unarmed peacekeeper outside his home in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region, the spokesman for the joint U.N.-African Union mission said Friday. The military observer, whose nationality and name were not released, was the 15th peacekeeper killed in Darfur since the mission began in January 2008 and the second since an international court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president for alleged war crimes in the remote western region.

April 30th, 2009 French, Canadian aid workers freed in DarfurPARIS — Two aid workers held hostage in Darfur, one French and one Canadian, were free Thursday after three weeks in captivity. The two women, sent to Darfur by non-governmental group International Medical Aid, were in good health, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.

April 27th, 2009 UN envoy: Darfur now 'a low-intensity conflict'UNITED NATIONS — The war in Darfur is now a "a low-intensity conflict" with 150 deaths a month, down from the intense fighting that killed tens of thousands when it began, the peacekeeping chief in the Sudanese region said Monday. But he warned the U.N.

April 21st, 2009 UN chief says over 1 million at risk in DarfurUNITED NATIONS — The United Nations chief warned Tuesday that Sudan's expulsion of 16 aid groups from Darfur has put the lives of more than 1 million people at risk and increased the potential for instability in the region. In a report to the U.N.

April 14th, 2009 NAIROBI/KHARTOUM - Nine men from the restive Sudanese province of Darfur have been hanged for the beheading of a prominent newspaper editor, media reports said Tuesday. Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, editor of al-Wifaq newspaper, was kidnapped from his home in 2006.