Food aid sent to the south

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday sent a convoy of trucks transporting 120 tonnes of maize flour and six tonnes of oil to Gore on Chad's border with the Central African Republic (CAR) in response to an appeal by the Chadian government for help for thousands of people who have fled fighting in the CAR. The government made the appeal in early February to the UN country team in Chad which drew up an emergency plan of action presented to the press on 27 February by UN Resident Coordinator Modibo Ibrahim Toure. According to the WFP country representative in Chad, Abdelwahab Mahmoud Jeme, the assistance provided by his agency is aimed at "helping people to return to their home areas and to assist the new arrivals, victims of the Central African crisis". He said WFP would soon set up a logistics base at Gore and reactivate a depot it has in Moundou, another southern town. A WFP emergency team on Wednesday began a one-week mission between Gore and another border town, Sido, to ensure that the agency can better assist and distribute food to displaced populations there. Fighting in CAR between government forces and rebels loyal to the former army chief of staff, Gen Francois Bozize, has displaced thousands of Central Africans and forced many Chadians who lived in the CAR to return to their country.