| The United Nations has withdrawn all international staff in parts of the western Darfur region to a regional capital after Arab militias said they would target foreigners and U.N. convoys in the area, the top U.N. envoy in Sudan said on Wednesday. Jan Pronk told Reuters in an interview that the government had made small steps to disarm the militia, known locally as Janjaweed, in West Darfur state, but more had to be done. The Janjaweed stand accused of a campaign of rape, killing, looting and burning non-Arab villages. "The Janjaweed militia have said that they will now target all foreigners and all U.N. humanitarian convoys so we have withdrawn all people to El-Geneina," he said. The militias gave the warning to the drivers of seized U.N. trucks, he added. All aid agency staff in the area -- West Darfur state on the Chad border -- have also pulled back to El-Geneina, which is the state capital, he said. In total, 44 staff were relocated. Pronk said the threats probably arose because the governor of West Darfur state had demanded that all cars the government had given to the militia in the past be returned. U.N. security officials were assessing the threat. |