Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Sudan Proposes to Deliver Humanitarian Aid From Blue Nile and North Kordofan

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Sudan proposes to deliver humanitarian aid from B. Nile and N. Kordofan

Sudan Tribune

September 4, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government proposed Tuesday to deliver humanitarian assistance from the capitals of North Kordofan and Blue Nile states to areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) rebel group.

The government delegation and the representatives of the three members of the humanitarian initiative held a meeting in Khartoum Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the a deal they signed on 5 August.

Initially they had to meet immediately after the signing to discuss the details of the operation and to send assessment teams before to launch the operation within three weeks.

Sudan’s Humanitarian Commissioner, Suleiman Abdel Rahman, who chaired the meeting, briefed the representatives of the United Nations, African Unions and Arab league of the steps enforced by the government since the signing of the deal.

He also said the government has prepared all the information it committed itself to provide for the operation.

The head of the technical team to implement the humanitarian plan, Ali Adam Hassan, told reporters that the meeting focused on primary arrangements of the tripartite initiative, collection of data about the areas targeted by the intervention and the number of the needy.

He further said the humanitarian operation can be carried out from Al-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan and Damazin of Blue Nile, adding the World Food Programme will be a key arm in the joint intervention.

He also said that the government strongly rejected proposals regarding airdrops or delivery of food and humanitarian assistance across the border from South Sudan and Ethiopia.

"We cannot control the airdrops because the statistics of aid delivery to the needy will be inaccurate," Adam said. He added that the government would deliver its plan related to the operation to its international partners during the next two days.

The SPLM-N rebels, last week, accused the government of delaying the delivery of humanitarian aid to the rebel held areas and called for it to be delivered through neighbouring South Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Sudanese official further disclosed that preliminary statistics of the affected civilians indicate "the presence of 25 villages in the state of South Kordofan and 5 areas in the Blue Nile State who need aid and assistance."

He vowed that more progress in the preparation of the plan of action to implement the tripartite initiative would be achieved in the next meeting which is scheduled for 12 September 2012.

He also denied any procrastination in the enforcement of the tripartite plane adding that international partners were informed of the date and place of the first meeting but they apologized.

He said this adjournment led to further delay in the humanitarian operation.

Some international officials suspect Khartoum of not being seriously committed to allowing humanitarian access to the rebel held areas. Sudanese authorities have always been reticent to accept this operation believing that the food will go feed the rebels.

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