Sudan grants foreign press access to Darfur again

May 26, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities have begun giving foreign journalists travel permits to Darfur after weeks of delay that hindered their ability to report on continuing violence in the remote western region.

During the height of the three-year-old conflict, Khartoum refused foreign press access to Darfur, forcing journalists to sneak across the border from Chad to report on what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Khartoum had since relaxed its stringent restrictions, but after a May 5 peace deal between rebels and the government, journalists found they were again being fobbed off by officials.

Travel permits were issued late on Thursday after U.N. officials and journalists lobbied the government, saying donors would not give money unless journalists were able to report the needs of the 3 million civilians caught up in the fighting.

Two government officials approached by Reuters for comment refused to give an explanation for the delays.

But the Humanitarian Aid Commission, which issues the permits, said in future they would be issued on the same day of application. Without them, journalists risk being arrested if caught by government forces in the region.

Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2 million forced to flee their homes during a widespread campaign of rape, killing and looting in Darfur, violence the United States has branded genocide. Khartoum rejects the charges.

(Reuters)