Sudan said it has arrested a number of United Nations staff, accusing them of illegally entering a disputed oil-producing border area to spy for South Sudan.
The UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that South Sudanese officials denied the allegations and said the men were working with the United Nations and aid groups clearing mines and had got lost in the remote territory close to the boundary between the two countries.
A Sudanese Army spokesman said that three people were arrested in Heglig – the scene of recent fighting between Sudan and South Sudan – they were travelling with a South Sudanese soldier in vehicles carrying military equipment.