SUDAN:THE UNITED Nations began withdrawing peacekeeping staff from Darfur yesterday as diplomats and aid workers continued to gauge the impact of accusing the Sudanese president of genocide.
For a third day demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, to show their solidarity with President Omar al-Bashir.
The International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor on Monday published a dossier of evidence accusing the president of three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder.
Aid agencies and UN officials fear the move could put them at greater risk of violence or expulsion in a country that has long viewed western staff with sus-picion. It leaves a question mark hanging over the world's largest humanitarian operation, which supports 4.5 million people.
Gen Martin Agwai, who commands a joint African Union and United Nations force of almost 10,000 peacekeepers in Darfur, said the heightened risk had forced the removal of some personnel.
"We are looking at staff who are not essential and are relocating them. At the same time we are continuously updating our risk assessment." The Unamid force, as it is known, has struggled to make an impact in Darfur. It remains well short of its full complement of 26,000 peacekeepers and Darfuris say it has failed to improve security in a region riddled with fragmenting rebel groups, banditry and myriad tribal conflicts.
However, Gen Agwai insisted that work would continue to support a humanitarian operation.
"We are taking all precautions to protect ourselves, internally displaced people, and UN and AU personnel and to make sure the humanitarian groups can continue their important life-saving work," he said.
Officials in El Fasher said that about 200 staff would be flown out yesterday and that further "relocations" would depend on daily security assessments. Aid agencies had already withdrawn non-essential staff from Darfur ahead of Monday's announcement. Staff who are on holiday have been told not to return.
Khartoum saw a series of small demonstrations denouncing the ICC yesterday but nothing like the major disruption expected if the government had decided to mobilise popular support.
Protesters hung pictures of the president on the walls of the UN headquarters and the British embassy. His most senior adviser said the government would do everything it could to block his prosecution. Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani said the ICC had threatened the stability of Sudan and undermined its ability to keep peace and security, and protect international workers.
"What we are saying is that if you compromise the capacity of the state you end up with chaos, and you end up with a situation where no one can guarantee the protection of anyone whether this person be a government official or a UN employee," he said.