AID WORKERS KIDNAPPED IN DARFUR

The two women, one Irish and the other Ugandan, were seized from their compound in the Kutum region of north Darfur where they were working for Irish aid agency Goal, UN-African peacekeepers said.

It was the third kidnapping of foreign humanitarian workers since March, when an international court issued a warrant for the country's president on charges of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur.

The peacekeeping mission appealed for their release, saying they were in Darfur to help its people.

The series of abductions, along with Sudan's expulsion of 13 international aid agencies in response to the arrest warrant, has struck a blow to the vital aid effort in the remote desert region, now in its sixth year of conflict.

Sudan's Arab-dominated government has been battling ethnic African rebels in Darfur since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.

The Sudanese government denies accusations that it responded to the uprising by unleashing militiamen who have carried out atrocities against civilians.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued the arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir in March on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly orchestrating efforts to wipe out three African tribes in Darfur.

Al-Bashir dismissed the charges and responded by expelling some of the most important aid agencies, which he accused of spying for the court.

Aid group Goal has been working in Darfur since 2004. The Irish department of foreign affairs confirmed the woman was missing.