Washington to support NDA capacity-building

The US State Department has reached agreement on a proposal to deliver some US $3 million in logistical support to the opposition coalition group, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the ‘Washington Post’ newspaper reported on 25 May. The US administration of George W. Bush would provide funding for office space, radios, staff and training to strengthen the NDA as it confronted the Islamic government in Khartoum, the paper reported, citing informed US government sources. The $3 million support programme, initially approved by the Clinton administration, was separate from the $10 million in assistance that the US Congress approved last year for the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), the paper added. [for further details, go to:
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/world/]

The Sudanese Ministry of External Relations decried the US decision to fund the NDA, saying it was a move in the opposite direction of peace and a sure way of perpetuating the way, Sudanese television reported on 27 May. The statement said this was proof that the US was biased, and illustrated its lack of seriousness in dealing with the two sides in a way that would allow a peaceful settlement, the report stated. If the US did not stop its blatant support - material and moral - for the SPLM/A, then it could serve no role as a neutral mediator in the conflict, it added.