Sudan Delay Concerns Famine Relief Officials

Western donor states said Sunday that they may not wait for official approval to save thousands of southern Sudanese threatened by famine because the government has delayed responding to their relief plan.

Relief officials in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, said that they were considering giving the military government of Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir an ultimatum. The officials said a blueprint for a relief operation was submitted to the government three weeks ago but that there has been no response.