Sudanese official heads to Brussels for contacts with Darfur rebels

KHARTOUM, March 26 (AFP) — A senior Sudanese humanitarian official left for Brussels Friday to meet with leaders of the rebellion in the western Darfur region, Omdurman radio announced.

At the same time, the radio said a relief train carrying some four million dollars worth of aid had left for the conflict-ridden region.

The official radio said the secretary of state for humanitarian affairs, Mohamed Yusuf Abdallah, would meet with unnamed rebel leaders in a bid to resolve the conflict.

The train, which left from Khartoum, was carrying about 600 tonnes of sorghum, sugar, cooking oil, biscuits, honey and other food, the radio said.

Vice President Moses Machar, who was among those who saw the train off, said the government is concerned with restoring peace and stability in Darfur, with peace being “an ideal option for the Sudanese people.”

Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, who was also present, said relief would continue to Darfur to build a strategic stock there in compliance with previous presidential instructions.

This was the fourth relief train to be moved by Sudanese ministries, unions and philanthropists during the past four days, an official said.

A rebellion erupted a year ago in the states of North Darfur, West Darfur and South Darfur over allegations the government had neglected to develop the impoverished region, which neighbors Chad.

The United Nations said the conflict, which has only recently begun to receive serious international attention, had killed more than 10,000 people and affected more than a million others.