Four aid workers attacked, beaten in Darfur

This news carried by Reuters underlines the occupational hazards of delivering humanitarian aid internationally:

Four aid workers were attacked in Sudan's Darfur region, beaten and given death threats, an official from the Medecins Sans Frontieres medical organization said on Tuesday.The MSF France team was attacked by around a dozen masked, armed men.

Three Sudanese staff were beaten and one international female staff was sexually harassed, MSF deputy head of mission Marc Galinier said. "They [the attackers] said we don't want any foreigners here," Galinier told Reuters.

"These attacks have become more and more frequent in recent months and have the effect of limiting humanitarian access," he said. "The humanitarian community take enormous risks."

Tens of thousands have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes during 3-1/2 years of fighting in Darfur. Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect. Ensuing rape, pillage and murder created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and the world's largest aid operation involving some 14,000 aid workers.

MSF, a medical emergency agency, work in some of the most hostile conflict areas of the world. In Darfur their various branches give vital medical treatment to hundreds of thousands of war victims. "We just want to care for the people ... and we ask that all the belligerents understand that we need to access the people and we are neutral," he added.