Darfur peacekeepers await news on abducted workers

Three weeks have passed without news of two kidnapped civilians working for the joint United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur, a UNAMID spokesman said on Tuesday.

The pair, a Zimbabwean woman and a Nigerian man, were kidnapped in August at Zalingei in west Darfur about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Chad border.

"It's now three weeks since we have had any news of them," UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni told AFP. "These are difficult conditions -- no one would want to be in their place. I cannot say anything about the state of their health."

The Nigerian has been reported to be suffering from an unspecified illness.

Mezni said UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management Mohamed Yonis was actively involved in talks aimed at freeing the two.

An African Union delegation arrived on Tuesday in Darfur capital El-Fasher to urge the local authorities to do everything in their power to end the 88-day-long hostage crisis.

"We have asked (the government) to be more active in the negotiations," delegation head Joseph Nsengiman told journalists.

"The plight of this Nigerian and Zimbabwean is preoccupying the African Union and their respective countries. We need a solution as soon as possible."

A dual French-British national working for the International Committee of the Red Cross who was abducted last month near the Chad border is also still a captive.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.

The government says 10,000 people have been killed.