KHARTOUM, Sudan, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Dozens of United Nations peacekeepers were released by rebel forces in Sudan after they were held for trespassing, a rebel spokesman said.
Three peacekeepers were still in the rebels' custody, the Sudan Tribune reported.
Forty-nine members of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur were held Sunday for entering territory held by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement without permission, JEM spokesman Gibreel Adam Bilal said.
Bilal said his group released 46 of the peacekeepers Monday after concluding the commander of the patrol was not aware they were trespassing in a JEM-controlled area. Three others were detained, he said, on suspicion of being government security agents after they offered conflicting statements during interrogation.
The peacekeeping mission has had a presence in Sudan since 2007, charged with protecting citizens and humanitarian workers. Susan Manuel, a mission spokeswoman, told the Tribune her organization was in contact with JEM forces.
