By Andrew Heavens
EL-FASHER, Sudan (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday withdrew its election observers from Sudan's Darfur region, saying safety fears were hindering their work.
Sudan is days away from what should be its first multi-party presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections in 24 years, but opposition parties have said the polls in Darfur will be a farce while a seven-year conflict continues in the region.
"I have decided to come back with all the team. The six observers who are...in Darfur," Veronique De Keyser, who heads the EU's election mission in Sudan, told reporters.
There has been a rash of kidnappings of Westerners in Darfur together with repeated bandit attacks and reports of fresh fighting between rebels and government forces.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Darfur, hopes to reinforce his rule with an election victory.
De Keyser said she was concerned the team would only be able to see a fraction of the voting, due to take place from Sunday to Tuesday, and could miss irregularities.
"We are forced to stay in a very limited area ... There is a risk of putting the credibility of the whole mission in danger," she said.
The Belgian member of the European Parliament said the team was well treated in Darfur, but she had been worried for their safety in remote areas.
NO ACCESS
"In some parts of Darfur the violence is terrible. The humanitarians cannot access this area. And if aid cannot access, we cannot access," she added.
The observers, who flew back on a private plane hired by the mission, said they were disappointed to leave but prepared to move on to watch the elections in other parts of Sudan. "We have to face up to the reality of the situation," said one.
The EU team, which arrived in Darfur in mid March, consists of two observers in each of the three state capitals.
Violence flared in Darfur in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting to develop the region.
The United Nations estimates that up to 300,000 people may have died after the government mounted a counter insurgency, arming mostly Arab militias. Khartoum rejects the accusation, putting the death count at 10,000.
De Keyser said she was also worried after Bashir threatened to expel international observers who pushed for a delay in the ballot. He threatened to cut off their fingers and tongues.
"You don't usually treat international observers you have invited like that. ... It doesn't reflect the traditional hospitality of the Arab world," she said.
Sudanese activists and electoral observers on Wednesday urged the international observer missions to withdraw fully from Africa's largest country.
"International elections observer missions should immediately pull out of Sudan," they said in a joint statement.
The activists said the international observers could not fully cover the 10,000 voting centres and with the U.S.-based Carter Center being the only long-term mission, the others had missed most of the fraud during last year's voter registration.
"These missions lend the appearance of legitimacy to what has been proven to be a deeply flawed elections process and the presumed re-election of a man who is internationally wanted for war crimes in a vote that is neither free nor fair".
The EU is the largest international mission with some 130 observers.
Reuters Africa
