Two civilians working with international peacekeepers in Sudan'stroubled Darfur region are missing following a raid on their residences.
Aspokesman for the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force saysthe gunmen stormed into the town of Zalingei early Saturday morning andseized a man and a woman.
The spokesman, Noureddine Menzi, saysthis is the first kidnapping of staff members working for thepeacekeeping force. He also says the mission has contacted thekidnappers, and that outgoing political chief, Rodolphe Adada, hasappealed for the release of the captives.
Zalingei is thehometown of Abdel Wahid al-Nur, the leader of the Sudan LiberationMovement (SLM), one of Darfur's main rebel groups. Al-Nur, speakingfrom Paris, criticized the kidnapping and denied the SLM was involved,but said it showed the weakness of the peacekeeping mission.
Thekidnapping is the fourth since March and comes just days after theoutgoing commander of the peacekeeping force, Martin Luther Agwai, saidthe area no longer is in a state of war.
The mission's politicalchief, Adada, previously angered some Western diplomats by calling thesituation in Darfur "a low-intensity conflict."
Human rightsgroups describe the situation in Darfur as a genocide. The UnitedNations says up to 300,000 people have died over six years of fightingbetween rebel groups and government forces.
Sudan puts the death toll much lower, at 10,000.
TheInternational Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for SudanesePresident Omar al-Bashir, whom it accuses of masterminding a campaignof rape, murder and other crimes against Darfur civilians.
Mr. Bashir has rejected the court's authority and has repeatedly traveled abroad in defiance of the arrest warrant.
Meanwhile, at least 36 civilians are dead in southern Sudan, the result of a tribal cattle raid.
Officialssay gunmen from the Lou Nuer tribe attacked the settlement of Wernyolin the Twic East region of Jonglei state on Friday in an attempt tosteal cattle from Dinka tribesmen. More than 50 people were wounded.
Clashes between rival ethnic groups break out frequently in southern Sudan.
The U.N. says at least 1,000 people have been killed as the result of inter-tribal violence this year.