Rebels from conflict-torn Darfur in western Sudan released 16 UN and other aid workers today, a day after they had been kidnapped, the United Nations said.
"We are relieved to report that the 16 humanitarian aid workers, who had been detained by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), were released today," the UN said in a statement.
The group, also called the SLA, is one of two main rebel groups in the remote region bordering Chad where nomadic Arab tribes have traditionally vied with African farming communities for scarce resources.
The SLA said it took the workers for their own protection because they had wandered into rebel-held territory.
The UN statement said the workers had returned to their base in al-Fashir, the capital of Northern Darfur state.
Khartoum and two main rebel groups agreed a ceasefire in April, but both sides have accused the other of violations.
Two UN bodies are sending monitors to the region, while the African Union has already deployed monitors.
The United Nations says fighting in Darfur, where a rebellion began last year, has displaced about one million people. UN officials have said the conflict has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
