Sudanese government warplanes have staged new air strikes in Darfur, prompting the United Nations to halt flights in the stricken region, UN officials said Wednesday.
The UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID, said in a statement that warplanes on Tuesday hit the village of Sukamir, which is near Kuma, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the main Darfur city of El Fasher.
That air attack came two days after a strike in the south of the conflict-stricken region, where the United Nations says more than 300,000 people have died since an uprising started in 2003.
"The team will attempt to collect information on possible casualties and newly displaced persons," according to the statement, which said UNAMID peacekeepers were trying to get Sukamir.
UN flights to the regions of Shangil Tobaya, Fanga Suk and neighboring regions in North Darfur have been suspended "due to government officials citing security concerns," said the mission.
Meanwhile, restrictions on the movement of aid groups have led to the cancellation of a number of humanitarian missions in South Darfur, the mission added.
Sudanese warplanes on Sunday bombed the town of Labado and the village of Esheraya in southern Darfur, according to the UN. Casualty numbers could not be given as the mission had not been given access to the Labado region.
Ibrahim Gambari, the UNAMID head, expressed concern over the air strikes.
"I call upon all parties to exercise the utmost restraint in the use of lethal force," he said.
Non-government groups and UN agencies operating in south Sudan were told Tuesday by the Sudanese government that they would be limited to a zone of 15 kilometers (10 miles) around the town of Nyala, UNAMID said.
At least 300,000 people have been killed and 1.8 million people fled their homes since the Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 between rebels and the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime, the United Nations says. The government puts the death toll at 10,000.
earlier related report
Namibia signs deal to up ownership in De Beers Marine
Windhoek (AFP) May 18, 2011 –
Namibia's government signed a deal Wednesday with South African diamond giant De Beers to increase its share in the company's local marine mining operations from 15 to 50 percent, officials said.
De Beers, which has an equal partnership with the Namibian government in its subsidiary Namdeb, said the company and the government had set up a new joint venture that would hold all land and sea mining licenses for both Namdeb and sister company De Beers Marine Namibia.
"We look forward to a long-term relationship with the Namibian government," acting De Beers Group chief executive Bruce Cleaver told journalists.
The parties said the deal would likely take effect in the second half of the year after all statutory, regulatory and other commercial conditions were met.
Marine diamond mining was pioneered in Namibia, and the country has the richest known marine diamond deposits in the world, estimated at over 80 million carats according to De Beers.
De Beers Marine mines the gems with a fleet of five mining ships and one evaluation and sampling ship.
Namibia was ranked the world's eighth biggest diamond producing country last year by the Kimberley Process monitoring group. The industry is the arid southwest African country's economic backbone.
Namibia's diamond production jumped 57 percent last year, with sales hitting $768 million (539 million euros) as the industry recovered from the global economic crisis.
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