UN said access to Sudan’s war-torn west improves

KHARTOUM, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Tuesday aid access had improved to Sudan’s western region, where it says fighting between government forces and rebels has displaced a million people.

Khartoum said on Monday its forces controlled Darfur on the border with Chad and announced a one-month amnesty for rebels. But one Darfur rebel group, which accuses Khartoum of sidelining the arid area, said it still controlled large parts of the region.

U.N. spokesman for the humanitarian coordinator for Sudan Ben Parker said aid access to Darfur had improved over the last two weeks. He said aid had reached Kutum about 900 km, (560 miles) west of Khartoum and home to 60,000 displaced people.

“There are signs and indications that we will be able to reach more places in the coming weeks and the government is assuring us that the access situation will improve,” he said.

The United Nations has previously said fighting and government unwillingness to issue travel permits had hindered aid distribution.

The independent al-Rai al-Aam newspaper quoted Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail as saying the government had told aid agencies that it had opened “10 new corridors in Darfur for relief convoys to move through.” But he did not give further details.

The daily also reported that a government delegation would leave for neighbouring Chad on Tuesday “to acquaint itself with the situation of the Sudanese refugees there and make arrangements for their return to their areas in Darfur.”