International Red Cross president meets Sudanese officials on humanitarian aid

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Mar 03, 2004 (AP) — In his first visit to Sudan, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross met Wednesday with senior government officials about the humanitarian situation in Sudan, which is battling rebels in the west and finalizing a peace deal with rebels in the south.

Jakob Kellenberger reviewed the role the ICRC could play in the medical field, especially in the south, and in the release of prisoners of war from the 20-year-old civil war, according to a state television report.

An ICRC statement issued Wednesday said assistance to Sudan is the organization’s largest operation in Africa.

Kellenberger was briefed by Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahamoud Hamid on events in western Darfur province, where a year of violence has killed hundreds of people and forced more than 600,000 to flee their homes.

The two discussed the food situation in the drought-stricken area and reviewed the return of displaced persons, state TV said.

Sudan hopes the ICRC will play an important role as peace talks on the southern front inch toward conclusion.

“The ICRC role will be greater in the coming phase (of peace talks), particularly concerning securing the release and exchange of the prisoners of wars,” Najeeb Al Khair Abdul Wahab, state minister for foreign affairs, told Kellenberger.

The official Sudan Media Center quoted a government official as saying that the John Garang, the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, has agreed to hand over to the ICRC lists of prisoners of war held in the town of Rumbek. It said the list would be handed over in late March, but gave no other details.

Kellenberger will head next to Kenya, where he plans to meet Garang and Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed, who heads the government delegation in peace talks.