Humanitarian flights cleared by government

The Sudan government on Monday cleared all Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) flights for August, including external flights from the OLS Lokichoggio base in northern Kenya. After recent government and Sudan media criticism of the humanitarian consortium, UN Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator Ross Mountain said he “welcomed” the move. Mountain, who held meetings on Monday with government officials at ministerial level, discussed the breakdown of the humanitarian ceasefire in Bahr el Ghazal, southern Sudan, and relief operations under OLS. He told IRIN that he was “very pleased to be assured by all government officials of the importance placed on the continuation of OLS”. Despite reports run in the Sudan media criticising the operation and claiming the UN official had “admitted” violations by relief agencies, Mountain said the government demonstrated “full recognition of the impartiality and transparency of the operation of the UN and the NGOs under the consortium”. “I reject any allegations that OLS is not doing its job. The quotations attributed to me are fabricated,” Mountain told IRIN. He said the UN was “disturbed” by the “highly distorted view” reported in Sudan of his meeting with senior government officials. “I do not recognise the quotes, even from private meetings,” he reiterated. He said the main object of his mission was to discuss the recent breakdown of the humanitarian ceasefire in Bahr el Ghazal. Although both sides have said they will abide by the ceasefire, neither side has officially renewed it. Mountain said intensified fighting by both sides carried serious consequences “for the Sudan population and, most recently, for the safety of humanitarian workers”. Before the ceasefire lapsed, the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) took the northern Bahr el Ghazal town of Gogrial and the government started bombing the area. Since the lapse of the ceasefire, the government bombing campaign has intensified, and has included civilian and relief targets. The SPLA has effectively besieged Aweil and Wau, the capital of Bahr el Ghazal, diplomatic sources told IRIN. Last week, the Sudan government said relief should not “fan the war” or go to rebels, and called for a review of OLS. Humanitarian agencies operating under the OLS consortium continued, with government reassurance, to deliver relief. But bombings last week near stationary relief planes and aid compounds in Aweil and Maulaual Kon, Bahr el Ghazal, and an attack on a UNICEF barge in Upper Nile, made delivery of aid “difficult and dangerous”, humanitarian sources told IRIN. The government continued to criticise relief operations, but focused on NGOs operating outside OLS. Mountain told IRIN that all OLS flights were specifically approved by the government of Sudan, but there were “other flights who do not have authorisation which have nothing to do with the OLS operation”. He said he welcomed the approval of flights for August and the importance the government placed on humanitarian operations.