SPLM calls for humanitarian aid to South Sudan

A severely malnourished Sudanese child sits on the ground inside a hospital run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in the town of Marial Lou, northwest of the southern town of Rumbek, May 26, 2005. (Reuters).

KHARTOUM, June 9, 2005 (Sudan Radio Service) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has called on the international community and the government of Sudan to focus on the famine stricken regions of Bahr-al-Ghazal and Equatoria to avert the looming crisis.

SPLM spokesman Yassir Arman told journalists in Khartoum that the government of Sudan should offer relief services to famine stricken regions of Bahr-al-Ghazal and Equatoria, regardless on whether they are administered by the SPLM or the government because very soon they will be forming a transitional government.

He further said groups affiliated to the soon-to-be-formed Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs of the government of southern sudan are currently touring famine stricken areas in southern sudan to assess the food situation.

He said the interim government will put pressure on the international community to lift economic sanctions against Sudan.