Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Ramadan
Fatwa Audios
Month of Mercy
Women
Eed Al- Fitr
Food Recipes
Videos
Three aid workers from the Belgian office of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been kidnapped in Sudan's North Darfur region, the medical organization has said.
A Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French coordinator were among five staff members seized on Wednesday night by a group of armed men in Serif Umra, MSF said on Thursday.
The charity later said that it would pull nearly all of its personnel out of Darfur following the kidnapping.
Christopher Stokes, director-general of the group's Belgian arm, said: "MSF is in the process of pulling its last teams from Darfur."
Stokes said that "all the teams from all the chapters" would leave and only those staff working on securing the release of their kidnapped colleagues would stay.
Two local members of staff seized at the same time as the international workers were released soon after they were captured, it said.
The Belgian foreign ministry confirmed the kidnapping had taken place and said that none of its nationals were involved in the incident.
Ali Sadig, a spokesman for Sudan's foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera: "What we know right now is that there is some sort of negotiation between the local authorities and the hostage takers.
"We do not know how far those negotiations have gone but people are doing their best to ensure the safety and secure the release of the three foreigners."
Groups banned
The attack on the Belgian MSF branch comes days after the French and Dutch contingents of the aid organization were kicked out of Darfur.
They were among 13 aid groups ordered to leave Sudan after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Khartoum accuses the expelled aid groups of cooperating with the ICC, which says that al-Bashir led a violent campaign in Darfur over the past six years.
The United Nations says that more than 180 foreign aid workers have left Sudan since the order by Khartoum to expel the aid groups.
The World Food Program (WFP) says four of its partner relief agencies expelled from Darfur were looking after 35 per cent of food distribution to the region.
PHOTO CAPTION
A map of Sudan showing the Darfur region.
Al-Jazeera
Prayer Times
Prayer times for Doha, Qatar 
