So now the African Union sends in a rescue team to secure the release of the hostages taken yesterday in North Darfur - and the RESCUE TEAM GETS KIDNAPPED TOO? (Well, at least that's what the news wires are saying. Of course, the African Union soldiers I ask in the market this morning have no clue what I'm talking about.)

What can I say - it's just another morning in Darfur, and nothing makes very much sense.

Seriously though, I am glad to hear that - following the tragicomic development above - the rebels (allegedly a JEM splinter group) have decided to release all but 2 of the African Unions troops that they were holding in Tine yesterday.

Much more worrying though are the statements made by Mohammed Saleh, a former JEM commander and the man the AU thinks is behind the abductions.

"We want the AU to leave and we have warned them not to travel to our areas," Saleh is telling Reuters. "We don't know and don't care what is happening to the AU, they are part of the conflict now," he adds. Saleh apparently claims to be leading a rebel group that will not honour any of the past ceasefire agreements or any future Abuja peace agreements that his group has not been involved in negotiating.

Somehow, I have a feeling people are increasingly starting to agree with me that Darfur is not getting better.

Tags: Sudan, Darfur, aid worker, African Union, attack, abduction