Sudan dismisses UN report on humanitarian situation as a ‘lie’

April 24, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The Sudanese government quickly dismissed a report by the UN this week describing the negative consequences that resulted from Khartoum’s decision to expel more than a dozen aid groups from Darfur.

Sudan said that the expelled organizations were passing information to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which last month issued an arrest warrant for president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

“The decision to expel the NGOs has put innocent civilians at risk and increased the potential for instability in the region” Un Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in his report.

“While joint efforts by the UN and Sudan “can address some of the most critical gaps in aid delivery in the coming weeks, the cumulative effects over time of the removal of such a large amount of humanitarian capacity puts well over 1 million people at life-threatening risk” he said.

“The rainy season starting in May is likely to make the situation significantly worse” Ban warned.

But the Sudanese envoy at the UN Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Halim criticized the report suggesting it is an exaggeration.

“It is a big lie,” he told reporters. “They are very good at dramatizing things. You will never find a report coming out of this body saying something positive about the situation”.

“There is now calm in Darfur…No starvation” Abdel-Halim said.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has urged Sudan to reconsider its decision in a non-binding statement. However Sudanese officials have said that they will not rescind the expulsion order despite international pressure.

Darfur displaced population refused to accept local aid groups accusing them of being undercover Sudanese security.

Khartoum has signaled that it is willing to accept new aid groups including from non-Western countries to fill the gap.

(ST)