Africa: Rebels release captives

Dissident rebels have released 36 members of an African Union team, including an American monitor, who were kidnapped in Sudan’s powder keg western Darfur region, an AU spokesman said.

Two members of the AU team, its Senegalese leader and a translator were still being held, said Nourdin Mezene, spokesman for the African Union in Khartoum. The AU military high commander has gone to the Tine region in west Darfur, near the border with Chad, to negotiate the release of the two remaining captives, Mezene said.