Kidnappers seize Latvian UN pilots

Three Latvian helicopter crewmen contracted to the UN World Food Programme were kidnapped in the South Darfur capital Nyala, a spokesman said yesterday.

The abductions are the latest in a wave of kidnaps targeting foreign workers for money in Darfur.

The South Darfur governor, Abdel Hamid Kasha, said the three men were taken from a minibus in Nyala on Thursday. Security forces were seeking the kidnappers.

He said he believed the kidnappers were the same as those who abducted Russian airmen in Nyala in August. Russia directed rare criticism at its ally Sudan for being unable to stop the kidnapping of foreigners.