Rebel leader appeals for aid after militia attacks in south Sudan
NAIROBI, May 11, 2004 (AFP) — The leader of a rebel group in southern Sudan appealed for urgent humanitarian aid to be delivered to tens of thousands of displaced people after attacks by pro-government militia forces.
“The international community should not turn a blind eye” to the plight of civilians in Shilluk Kingdom, Lam Akol, the head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-United (SPLM-United) told a news conference in Nairobi, insisting the area was now safe enough for aid operations.
More than 70,000 civilians have been made homeless because of the fighting, which began in the first week of March in violation of a ceasefire, according to the movement, which last October merged with the country’s main rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
The SPLA and the Khartoum government are currently in the final stretch of negotiations to end more than 20 years of devastating civil war.
In April, independent ceasefire monitors confirmed that Khartoum-backed militias had attacked civilians in Shilluk Kingdom, in the Upper Nile region, and also gave a figure of 70,000 displaced.
Their report spoke of “entire villages destroyed and deserted, large areas of scorched ground, groups of (displaced people) and a destroyed aid compound.”
“Obviously we want to help those people and we will keep going to check, but we urge forces in that area to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access,” UN spokesman Ben Parker told AFP.
“Our assessment at the moment is that it is not yet stable or secure enough to resume operations,” he added.
“I disagree with that totally,” reacted Lam Akol.
“It is we who are responsible for their (aid workers’) lives. Why would we say it safe when it is not?” he told AFP by phone.
But he conceded that rebel forces in parts of Shilluk Kingdom were “prepared” for further attacks from the pro-Khartoum militias and did not rule out the possibility of more fighting.
Lam Akol, who recently visited the area, described the condition of civilians there as “miserable”, explaining that many were living on river islands with inadequate shelter and were surviving by eating only water lillies.
“It was the strategy of the GOS (government of Sudan) militia not only to burn food crops but also to torch the grass, abundant at this time of year and used in building huts,” Lam Akol said at the news conference.
“The needs identified include food and non-food items, (such as) plastic sheets, mosquito nets, blankets, fishing items and cooking utensils. The food items should also include seeds to be sown this rainy season,” said the rebel leader.
Some help had been provided by Norwegian People’s Aid, said Lam Akol, who however expressed regret that Operation Lifeline Sudan, which is made up of several UN agencies and non-governmental organisations working in southern Sudan, had pulled out of some areas of Shilluk for security reasons, even though fighting had not reached these areas.
Lam Akol accused Khartoum of “working to undermine” a comprehensive peace accord for the south of Sudan, which newspapers in Khartoum said last week could be signed within days.