Sudan arrests second aid worker for rape report

KHARTOUM - Sudan has arrested a second aid worker over a report on rape in Darfur and harassed a man who translated for Kofi Annan when the UN chief met rape victims in the region, UN and aid officials said.

Sudan's top UN envoy Jan Pronk had earlier said the Sudanese man who translated for Annan during a visit to Darfur's largest refugee camp on Saturday had been arrested, but later said he had only been harassed by authorities.

On Monday, Sudanese authorities detained a senior official from international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Sudan, whose remote region of Darfur has been plagued by more than two years of bloodshed.

The aid worker held on Tuesday was also from MSF Holland, which published a report in March detailing about 500 cases of rape over a period of 4 1/2 months in Darfur, where a rebellion has raged since early 2003.

Pronk "deplored" the arrests of the two MSF officials and said he would raise the issue with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Annan, on his return to UN headquarters, told reporters: "In my discussions with the authorities, I urged them to allow humanitarian workers to operate freely without impeding their work or their activities."

The United States condemned the arrests and urged Sudan to stop a campaign of intimidation.

- REUTERS