Sources from the Sudanese Red Crescent said the six aid workers were safe and in good conditions, and they were picked up by a helicopter in the south of Al-Fasher, capital of North Darfur Wednesday morning.

   UN officials said their release was the result of extensive negotiations with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

   The six Sudanese nationals, three working for the World Food Program and three for the Sudanese Red Crescent have been missing since Saturday when they were registering the displaced in the area of Shangal Tubaya in northern Darfur.

   The SLA is one of two African rebel factions that took up arms in February 2003, claiming discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

   Darfur is considered by the United Nations to be the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis, which has left up to 50,000 people dead and some 1.2 million displaced.  Enditem