Humanitarian should not go to rebels

The government of Sudan said at the weekend that humanitarian aid going to an estimated 1.7 million war and famine victims in southern Sudan through the international Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) relief effort should not fall in the hands of the SPLA/M.

“We will not allow OLS to be used for the provision of assistance to the rebels,” President Omar al-Bashir, was quoted as saying in weekend news reports. Although he has suspended OLS operations in the past, a government spokesman later clarified its “full commitment” to the relief operation.
The official SUNA news agency, in a dispatch at the weekend quoted government spokesman, Ghazi Salah-Eddin, the information minister, as reaffirming “the government’s total commitment to the delivery of relief to affected and needy people in all parts of the country, and that the government is committed to providing them with food.”

It said all routes and ports in the country were open “for all organisations and societies”. However, it added: “The government of Sudan would not allow relief facilities to be used for the passage of any supplies that would fan the war and fighting and it would supervise this matter firmly and meticulously.” UN sources told IRIN that the UN had written to the government of Sudan over the presidents’ comments on Sunday, as they had “far reaching implications” for OLS. But the clarification meant that operations would continue “as normal”.

Meanwhile, a government statement issued on Saturday said peace talks organised by the regional body Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought (IGAD) should concentrate on violations of the ceasefire by the SPLA. In the statement, presidential adviser Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir said the government had underlined the need to focus on rebel violations during the recent visit of Ambassador Daniel Mboya, Kenya’s presidential envoy for IGAD.