Humanitarian aid enough for 4 months in Darfur : minister

KHARTOUM, Feb 24 (AFP) — Stocks of humanitarian aid in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region are now enough for the next four months and supplies are flowing satisfactorily to all parts of the area, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

Government bodies, national and foreign non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies were now getting aid to people affected or displaced by the Darfur conflict, Hamid told the official Al Anbaa daily.

Relief supplies in stocks in the west Sudan region were enough for the next four months, the minister said, commending northern states and organisations which had sent relief convoys of trains and trucks recently to Darfur.

About 3,000 people have been killed and another 670,000 displaced within Sudan by the war between rebels drawn mainly from the region’s non-Arab minorities and government troops and their Arab militia allies.

Earlier this month, a UN team visited Darfur to look at humanitarian needs in the area. United Nations officials said the team would assess aid requirements in the cities of Nyala, Al-Geneina and Al-Fashir as UN agencies worked to deliver and pre-position food, water and medical supplies for around 250,000 displaced people.

Darfur is believed to be home to six million people and covers around one-fifth of the territory of Sudan, the largest country in Africa.

Hamid said his government was serious about resolving the Darfur dispute, citing preparations to hold a national conference for peace, development and coexistence there.

The government has pledged safety guarantees to Darfur rebels to take part in the conference for which a date has not yet been set.