200 million dollars needed to secure kidnapped Aid Workers -Militants

NAIROBI - A group that has kidnapped two aid workers with the French organization Aide Medical Internationale in Sudan's restive Darfur province has demanded a massive ransom for their release, media reports said Monday.

According to Sudan Media centre the unidentified kidnappers want 200 million dollars to release the French and Canadian citizens.

The two workers were taken from the aid group's compound in Ed El-Fursan in southern Darfur Saturday night.

France and Canada's foreign ministries said they were monitoring the situation and were attempting to make contact with the kidnappers.

This is the second incident involving aid workers since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur.

Sudan in March expelled more than a dozen foreign aid agencies providing food, medical and other assistance in Darfur after the arrest warrant was issued.

The agencies were accused of spying for the United States and providing intelligence to the ICC.

There were fears Al-Bashir's hardline stance could increase tensions and legitimize attacks against the remaining aid workers in Darfur.

An aid worker with the Canadian agency The Fellowship of African Relief was shot dead in Darfur in late March.

The ICC accuses al-Bashir of genocide and other war crimes carried out in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

(AGENCIES)