This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7068544.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
UN alarm at Darfur camp 'removal' Darfur camp eviction 'fabricated'
(1 day later)
A United Nations humanitarian chief has expressed alarm at reports Sudan's government forced people from a refugee camp in South Darfur on Sunday night. Sudanese diplomats have dismissed as "fabrications", reports that hundreds of people were forcibly evicted from a camp near Nyala in southern Darfur.
John Holmes said any forced relocations could spark more violence amid the ongoing Darfur peace talks in Libya. Sudan's UN envoy, Abdelmahmood Abdelhaleem Mohamed, told the BBC that eyewitness accounts were "irrelevant, unfortunate and unconfirmed".
Government security forces allegedly used sticks and rubber hoses to force new arrivals at Otash to leave. An un-named UN official on Sunday saw the forced relocation of refugees at gunpoint from Otash camp to Amakassara.
The camp in Nyala, south Darfur, is home to some 60,000 people who have lost their homes in the conflict. The UN says this "dangerous precedent" could jeopardise Darfur peace talks.
The numbers fleeing to Otash have increased in the wake of violence at the Kalma camp, Darfur's largest, a week ago. Some 200,000 people are estimated to have died and more than two million displaced during the four-year war.
People surrounded UN emergency relief coordinator Sir John Holmes said a UN official witnessed Sudanese security forces with sticks and rubber hoses coercing hundreds of refugees, including women and children, to leave Otash refugee camp on the outskirts of Nyala.
Mr Holmes said the Sudanese government was only supposed to move people from the camps if they wanted to go and threatening them with sticks and rubber hoses was contrary to agreements. Other witnesses told the BBC they saw 10 vehicles with heavy machine guns surrounding people, while eight trucks were loaded with their belongings.
UN officials on the ground saw 10 vehicles with heavy machine guns surrounding people, while eight trucks were loaded with their belongings. The refugees have been moved into an area where the UN says it is known that the Janjaweed militia operate.
This renewed tension in the camps comes as the peace talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict in Sudan's western region continue in Libya. "We are making a fuss because... this is a very dangerous precedent in an area where there are very many thousands of people in camps, where there are security problems," Sir John told the BBC.
The Sudanese government declared a ceasefire as those talks opened at the weekend. He said the UN wanted to send a message to Khartoum that this was not acceptable behaviour and must not happen again.
'No go areas'
Sudanese diplomats contacted by the BBC rejected the reports.
Mr Abdelmahmood said the allegations were "more than fabrications" aimed at "distracting attention from the Sudanese government's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire to accompany the peace talks".
Asked if he was suggesting the UN emergency relief coordinator would make up the reports, Mr Abdelmahmood said: "We do not want to question his credentials but the way he... the timing leaves a lot to be desired."
And in London, Ambassador Khalid al Mubarak said it was for the Sudanese government to make an official statement "after they make their own investigations on the ground".
He said there were armed men in some of the refugee camps which have become "no go areas" for the authorities and aid workers alike.
The governor of South Darfur told the UN it is his intention to close the camps around Nyala, which are home to as many as 90,000 people.
Otash camp alone has an estimated 60,000 refugees, swollen by numbers of people fleeing violence at the Kalma camp, Darfur's largest, a week ago.
Darfur peace talks
This renewed tension comes as international mediators struggle to save peace talks which opened at the weekend in the Libyan town of Sirte with none of the key rebel groups present.
Organisers are striving to avoid defeatism, and are sending African Union and UN envoys to meet absent rebel groups to try to persuade them to get on board.
Leaders of the two main rebel forces - the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) and the faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement headed by Abdul Wahid el Nur - have called for the talks to be cancelled for the time being.