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U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
April 2, 1999

Sudan: Deaths of Red Crescent Worker and Three Sudanese Officials

The United States has learned that a Sudanese Red Crescent worker and three Sudanese government officials who accompanied an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team in southern Sudan were killed while under the custody of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The four were riding in an ICRC vehicle with two Swiss ICRC workers on February 18 when they were detained by the SPLM/A. The two Swiss workers were released on March 12.

The Red Crescent worker and three Sudanese officials were killed sometime before March 30 under circumstances that remain unclear. The United States deplores the deaths of these individuals. We call on the SPLM/A to cooperate with the ICRC in returning the bodies to family members and to permit a thorough investigation of this incident.

The United States reiterates its strong concern over the humanitarian situation in southern Sudan and urges the two parties to the conflict not to allow this incident to interfere in any way with efforts by the international community or the parties themselves to provide relief assistance to Sudan's vulnerable populations.

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