Gunmen in Darfur snatch 2 Germans

— Gunmen raided a humanitarian agency’s office in south Darfur and kidnapped two German aid workers, a spokesman for the international peacekeeping mission said Wednesday.

Kidnappings of foreign aid workers have been on the rise in Darfur since 2009, after an international arrest warrant against Sudan’s president for purported war crimes in Darfur.

The identities of the kidnappers are unknown and there has been no contact with the men who were abducted late Tuesday, said Chris Cycmanick, spokesman for the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

The German Foreign Ministry said two men working for the Technisches Hilfswerk, a state agency doing development work, have been missing in Darfur since Tuesday.

The men are 34 and 52, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told reporters in Berlin.

Cycmanick said seven gunmen, including four men carrying automatic rifles, entered the residence of Technisches Hilfswerk group in Nyala, the capital of south Darfur. There were no reports of gunfire.

A Sudanese security guard who was briefly abducted was being questioned by the Sudanese authorities.

Kidnappers mostly have demanded ransom in recent cases, but some have made political statements.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 06/24/2010

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