Sudan’s rebels say they agree to unilateral humanitarian aid
March 12, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) on Monday said it has agreed with the international community that much needed aid for South Kordofan and Blue Nile states must be delivered without the consent of Khartoum if the latter fails to sign a deal on allowing it.
The deal was signed on 16 February between the SPLM-N, on one side, and the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) and the Arab League (AL) on the other, to allow delivery of aid in rebel controlled areas in the two states.
Khartoum, on the other hand, is facing down pressure to let international aid groups access the two states where the country’s army has been fighting the rebels since last year.
Last month, the UN Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement expressing concern over the situation in the two areas, saying it could reach “emergency levels if not immediately addressed”.
The SPLM-N revealed on Monday that its delegates held a meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with the country’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, US Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman, UN Envoy Haile Menkerios and EU Envoy Rosalind Marsden.
According to a statement issued by the SPLMN, the meetings took place on 9 and 10 March and focused on South Kordofan and Blue Nile’s humanitarian situation which is “teetering on the edge of famine”.
The SPLMN delegation was composed of its chairman Malik Agar, his deputy Abdul Aziz al-Hilu, Secretary-General Yasir Arman and its humanitarian official Hashim Orta.
During the meeting, the statement said, SPLM-N representatives had warned of the “humanitarian catastrophe” that could befall civilians in the two states if Khartoum refuses to join the tripartite agreement.
“The refusal by Khartoum to sign a deal to deliver food aid in areas controlled by the SPLMN is a systematic anti-civilians policy in order to exterminate them,” the rebels’ statement read.
The rebel delegates alleged that 45,000 conscripts of the paramilitary Popular Defense Forces (PDF) are marching towards the region, saying that the troops are known for targeting civilians and using scorched earth campaigns. The rebel representatives further warned that the international community, if it fails to act, would be held responsible for any “genocide being prepared by the Khartoum regime”.
“We have agreed with them that if Khartoum refused to sign the tripartite proposal, the international community should immediately send aid to the refugees without the permission of the government”, Yasir Arman said in a separate statement.
A western source who preferred anonymity told Sudan Tribune that the envoys had asked the rebels to accept a request by the Sudanese government for a ceasefire in order to allow aid groups to operate. According to the source, however, the SPLM-N rejected the condition after consultations with its military field commanders who said that such ceasefire would consolidate the Sudanese army’s control in some war zones.
The SPLM-N’s statement was keen to assert that the group’s allies in the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), which includes the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW and SLM-MM) from the western region of Darfur, were briefed on the meeting “before and after”.
The SRF was established in November last year and adopted the goal of regime change. The group recently attacked a number of areas including Jau town on the borders with neighbouring South Sudan, who Khartoum accuses of backing the rebels. Juba denies the charge.
(ST)