Paris  - The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday evening in Paris that it has pulled 70 staff members out of the Darfur conflict region of Sudan on the orders of the Khartoum government.

"We were ordered in writing a few days ago to withdraw for security reasons international workers from several locations by Wednesday," a spokeswoman for the group said.

She said the Khartoum government had issued the order in the expectation that the International Criminal Court in The Hauge would issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Doctors Without Borders was now worried about providing further aid to the region's population. In some areas, the group was the only one still providing medical assistance. In addition, cases of meningitis had now been reported in several refugee camps.

The humanitarian organization stressed that it does not cooperate in any way with the ICC and has not provided it with any information. (dpa)