POLICE units in Sudan are searching for an Irish woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint while working for an aid agency.

THE United Nations was pulling non-essential staff from Darfur yesterday as Islamist protesters rallied behind Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over allegations he masterminded a campaign of genocide in the war-torn region.

SUDAN yesterday accused Chad of attacking its troops and bombing a village in Darfur, and vowed to respond to the “aggressive and serious” violations of a fledgling peace agreement.

A SENIOR officer with the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in western Sudan was attacked yesterday by gunmen who seriously wounded his driver, the force said in a statement.

THE UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on violations in Sudan’s strife-torn western region of Darfur today, after a rebuke from Kofi Annan that it has not paid enough attention to rights violations in the province.