Khartoum - Thousands of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's supporters gathered in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the 65-year-old leader for his role in atrocities in the country's western Darfur region.

Supporters shouted "God is great" and "With our souls and our blood we defend you, al-Bashir." They also carried banners that read, "Shame, shame, Ocampo is an ass."

Beijing/Khartoum  - Nine Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped by an unknown group in Sudan, state media said on Monday.

The nine workers were seized at an oil field in Southern Kordofan State close to Sudan`s strife-torn Darfur region, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese embassy officials as saying.

No group has claimed responsibility for kidnapping the workers, who were employees of the China National Petroleum Corporation, the agency reported from Khartoum.

Nairobi/Khartoum  - Sudan has summoned the ambassadors of Kenya and Ethiopia to register a complaint about "illegal" arms shipments to the semi-autonomous south, the Sudanese embassy in Kenya said Tuesday.

Sudan is angry about a shipment of tanks and other military equipment that was allegedly en route to South Sudan through the Kenyan port of Mombasa before being seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

Khartoum also said that weapons arrived in South Sudan's capital Juba on Friday aboard an Ethiopian military plane.

Nairobi/Khartoum  - A helicopter contracted by the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has crashed, killing at least two of the occupants, the UN said Monday.

UNAMID spokesman Kemal Saiki said that the helicopter, which was delivering rations to UNAMID bases, had come down near the Kalma refugee camp in Sudan's restive western province.

Two of the occupants were confirmed dead, while the other two were presumed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

There was no information on the nationality of the four.

Nairobi/Khartoum - The joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur UNAMID said Thursday it would continue to provide security in a camp for internally displaced people following a deadly attack by Sudanese security forces.

UNAMID says 32 people, including women and children, died and 50 were injured in the attack in Sudan's restive Darfur province on August 25.

Sudanese security opened fire in the Kalma camp near the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, during what it said was an operation to retrieve a rebel weapon stockpile.

Nairobi/Khartoum - The joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur UNAMID has slammed the Sudanese government for killing dozens in a refugee camp in the restive province, accusing it of violating the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Sudanese security forces Monday opened fire in the Kalma internally displaced person camp near the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, when it launched what it said was an operation to retrieve a rebel weapon stockpile.

"While the alleged presence of weapons in the Kalma camp is a real security concern for the... authorities, the actions taken to address it are a clear violation of the Darfur Peace Agreement," UNAMID said Tuesday in an unusually critical statement.