JEM releases kidnapped peacekeepers in Darfur

Rebels in Sudan's Darfur province said they have released 49 African peacekeepers they accused of entering their territory without permission. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels said they also freed three other people they suspected to be Sudanese security agents. The rebel group held a 55-person eacekeeping patrol in north-western Darfur saying that they entered without permission a territory that was under their control. The joint African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said the soldiers would not leave without their colleagues. They said the three are a Yemeni policeman and two Sudanese translators. JEM said that most of those held on Sunday night were people from the Senegalese UNAMID troops, which operate mainly in northwest Darfur, but added that there were also soldiers from Ghana, Rwanda and Yemen. The movement said it released the last three after investigations showed they were not security agents. However, UNAMID commander Patrick Nyamvumba told the BBC that it took a "show of force" to convince the rebels to free them. UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gamabri condemned "the blockage" of the patrol reminding that the peacekeepers are sent to protect civilians "throughout the Darfur region," in response to the rebels' demand to seek permission before entering their territory. After hailing the role played by his Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, to secure the release of the patrol members, he warned that "any hostile act against a UN peacekeeper, including locally recruited staff, is a violation of international humanitarian law and a possible war crime." Gamabri finally stressed that the stand-off only ended after the arrival of important reinforcements of UNAMID troops, as the members of the patrol refused to leave the area without their three colleagues.