Sudan's Darfur rebels 'release' 49 Unamid peacekeepers

Rebels in Sudan's Darfur province said they had released 49 African peacekeepers they accused of entering their territory without permission.

But rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) said they were keeping three other people they suspect of being Sudanese security agents.

The joint UN-African Union peace mission (Unamid) said the soldiers would not leave without their colleagues.

Unamid said the three were a Yemeni policeman and two Sudanese translators.

Jem said that most of those held on Sunday night were Senegalese Unamid troops but there were also soldiers from Ghana, Rwanda and Yemen.

Earlier on Monday, a Unamid spokesperson told the BBC that there were "ongoing negotiations" to resolve the situation.

Unamid said later that the peacekeepers were "able to leave" but were staying until their three colleagues were released. It insisted that the Sudanese did not work for the government.

A senior Jem official told the BBC that the three still being held were all Sudanese, and were being investigated. The rebels believe the men led the peacekeepers into Jem's territory.

Senegalese troops operate mainly in the north-west of Darfur, near the border with Chad.

The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum said the incident highlighted the lack of stability in Darfur.

Fighting has died down since 2006 but three rebel groups were still fighting the government and Jem was the strongest of the three.

Two million people were in refugee camps after nine years of conflict in Darfur.

The UN estimates that more than 300,000 people had died in Darfur, mostly from disease, since rebels took up arms in 2003.

The government in Khartoum puts the figure at about 12,000 deaths, and says the number of casualties had been exaggerated for political reasons.