Rep. Donna Edwards Among U.S. Lawmakers Arrested At Protest

WASHINGTON, DC (AP)--Five members of the U.S. Congress were arrested Monday while protesting the expulsion of aid groups from Darfur in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Among those arrested Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Atlanta's Congressman John Lewis, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, and Lynn Woolsey of California.

They were among eight people led away in handcuffs Monday after crossing a police line. They urged world leaders to take a stand against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's decision to expel 16 aid agencies from Darfur, where the United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died in fighting that began more than six years ago.

Ellison says it's wrong to deny aid to what he calls "the most vulnerable people on our planet."