Rebels abduct nine people in Sudan's Darfur region, says state-owned center

Monday June 14th, 2004.

KHARTOUM, June 14 (AFP) -- Rebels in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region have abducted nine people, including two women and a child, the state- owned Sudan Media Center reported on Monday.

The center said the nine were seized and abducted on Sunday after rebels attacked their village, Almalm, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

The center gave no other details and the report could not be immediately verified.

Earlier this month, Darfur rebels seized 16 local and international aid workers in the region but later released them unharmed.

Darfur is undergoing what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, prompted by a rebel uprising which started in February 2003 with the rebels complaining that Khartoum had neglected their impoverished region.

The uprising led to a fierce, and widely condemned, retaliation by government forces and allied militia.

At least 10,000 people are believed to have died in the revolt and an estimated one million people have fled the region following attacks by government troops and the militias, with more than 100,000 of them taking refuge in neighbouring Chad, according to UN figures.