More gunfire at Darfur camp, aid workers barred: U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - There was an exchange of gunfire at a refugee camp in Sudan's western Darfur region that has been the focus of a tense standoff between international peacekeepers and Khartoum, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday.

Sudan has demanded that U.N.-African Union peacekeepers in Darfur (UNAMID) hand over six Darfuris accused by Khartoum of instigating clashes in South Darfur's Kalma Camp in late July that killed at least five people. UNAMID has refused to do so.

"The situation in Kalma remains tense and insecure," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. "There were reports of gunfire overnight."

It was not clear who fired the shots, though there has been sporadic fighting between supporters of Darfur peace talks in Doha and those who oppose the talks.

The six had sought refuge with UNAMID, which says it will not hand them over to Sudan without proof of their crime or guarantees of a fair trial. U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said last week that UNAMID had asked Khartoum to drop the request for the six.

Kalma was home to 100,000 Darfuris who fled their homes during rampages of rape, murder and looting by militia in Sudan's remote west. Sudan's government has had no presence in Kalma -- Darfur's most volatile camp -- for years because of hostile residents.

Nesirky said UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari and the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Darfur Georg Charpentier traveled with Sudanese officials to the Kalma camp on Wednesday and met with "senior authorities" in South Darfur's capital Nyala.

"They discussed the need to find amicable and practical solutions to resolve the situation and ensure protection for all internally displaced persons and civilians," he said.

Many of the residents have fled because of the recent violence, though some 50,000 people remain in Kalma Camp, where humanitarian workers are not still allowed in by Sudanese authorities, U.N. officials say.

"We are concerned by shortages of food, and fuel deliveries have stopped and fuel for water pumps has run out," a U.N. official said. "Sanitation is a major concern, as it is the middle of the rainy season."

Humanitarian workers have not been allowed into Kalma since August 2.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur seven years ago accusing Khartoum of neglect. A counter-insurgency campaign drove more than 2 million from their homes to miserable camps, sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The United Nations says as many 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003. Sudan blames Western media for exaggerating the conflict and the death toll which it puts at 10,000.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)