The UN was pulling non-essential staff from Darfur as protesters rallied behind Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Tuesday over allegations he masterminded a campaign of genocide in the region.
Fears of a violent backlash have mounted since the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor on Monday sought an arrest warrant against Beshir on 10 counts including war crimes and the use of rape to commit genocide in Darfur .
The African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission said it would be flying non-essential staff to Ethiopia and Uganda, despite pledges from Sudan to protect peacekeepers and aid workers in the country.
But more than six hours after the first two minibuses left UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher at around midday (0900 GMT) for the airport, 51 staff were still waiting for their plane -- delayed for technical reasons.
Another 38 people were flown out of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, but the numbers were still way short of those officials initially said would leave.
"It's not an evacuation. We're temporarily relocating staff, some non-essential staff," said Josephine Guerrero, spokeswoman for the UN-led peacekeeping mission.
Another 60 to 65 relatives of agency employees have been leaving Khartoum.
The United Nations has stressed that "relocated" personnel may return to Darfur in less than a week and that it is business as usual elsewhere in Sudan.
"We are committed to our obligations to support peace in Sudan and carry out our mandates and tasks. We also point out that the safety and security of the UN, international and NGO staff is paramount," said UN spokesman Brian Kelly.
Sudan criticised the evacuations as "unfortunate."
Eight UNAMID peacekeepers died and more than 20 were wounded in an ambush by heavily armed militia in North Darfur on July 8, the deadliest in a series of attacks in the six months since the United Nations assumed command of peacekeeping in the region.
Khartoum braced for angry protests against the ICC move, although the number who took to the streets by Tuesday lunchtime numbered only a few hundred.
One rally led by an Islamic student movement marched from Khartoum University to the UN Development Programme office and British embassy.
Around 100 other demonstrators belonging to the ruling National Congress held a separate rally outside the presidential palace.
"The criminal Ocampo is playing with fire," read one banner.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Monday that Beshir "personally instructed" his forces to annihilate three non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, accusing him of murder, torture, rape and pillaging.
He has requested a warrant on 10 counts, three of them for genocide, in what would be the first such move by the court against a sitting head of state.
ICC judges will examine the application to decide whether there are sufficient grounds for issuing a warrant, a process which could take several months.
Sudan, which is under a UN-imposed obligation to execute any such warrants, has refused to surrender two suspects named last year for war crimes in Darfur, one of them a sitting cabinet minister.
In his first public appearance since the ICC move, Beshir danced, punched the air in delight with his walking stick and shouted "God is Great" at a ceremony to ink a new electoral law.
Sudan is pressing for contacts with veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, especially China and Russia, over the possible ICC warrant.
The council has the power to intervene to defer any prosecution for a year, with Russia on Tuesday urging restraint from all parties.
China expressed concern over the ICC prosecutor's decision and warned that the move might upset peace hopes in Darfur.
The conflict broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum and state-backed militias.
The United Nations has said 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million been displaced. Khartoum puts the number of dead at 10,000.
The African Union warned any indictment of Beshir would create a power vacuum that risked "military coups and widespread anarchy".
