The United Nations was pulling non-essential staff from Darfur on Tuesday as Islamist protesters rallied behind Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over allegations he mastermined a campaign of genocide in the war-torn 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 of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur .
The African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission said it would be flying out non-essential staff to Ethiopia and Uganda, despite assurances from Sudan to protect peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in the country.
The first two minibuses carrying staff left UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher around midday (0900 GMT) en route to the local airport where they were expected to fly to Entebbe in Uganda, witnesses told AFP.
"It's not an evacuation. We're temporarily relocating staff, some non-essential staff," said Josephine Guerrero, spokeswoman for the UN-led peacekeeping mission, following months of deteriorating security in Darfur.
"UNAMID is not pulling out. All the forces are going to be on the ground and humanitarian operations are continuing," she added, referring to the UN-African Union military and police force, only a third of which has deployed.
Officials in El Fasher said about 200 staff would be flown out on Tuesday and that further "relocations" would depend on daily security assessments.
Another 60 to 65 relatives of UN agency employees have been leaving Khartoum following the raising of security levels.
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.
But Sudan criticised the evacuations as unnecessary.
"This is very unfortunate -- that they are doing this despite our assurances many times that they are going to be protected, to enable them to do their daily business," foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq told AFP.
Eight UNAMID peacekeepers died and more than 20 others wounded following an ambush by heavily armed militia in North Darfur on July 8.
It was the deadliest in a series of attacks in the six months since the United Nations assumed command of peacekeeping in the region to replace an ill-equipped and under-manned African Union force.
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 UNDP office and British embassy shouting "We are the army of Mohammed and "by our blood we protect our president."
Around 400 tribesmen belonging to the ruling National Congress Party were organising a separate rally outside the presidential palace.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Beshir "personally instructed" his forces to annihilate three ethnic groups in the western Sudanese region, accusing him of murder, torture, attacks on civilians 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.
Three ICC judges will examine the application to decide whether there are sufficient grounds for issuing a warrant, which could take several months.
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.
Sudan, which is under a UN-imposed obligation to execute any such warrants, has refused to surrender two suspects named last year for alleged 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 seen as vital to democratic transformation.
Sudan is pressing for contacts with 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.
China on Tuesday expressed concern over the ICC prosecutor's decision and warned that the move might upset peace hopes in Darfur.
The conflict began in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime and state-backed militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
The United Nations has said 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million displaced since then. Khartoum puts the number of fatalities at 10,000.
The African Union warned any indictment of Beshir would create a power vacuum that risked "military coups and widespread anarchy".
