Sudan to Let U.N. Give Aid to Refugees
The government has approved a U.N. plan to airdrop relief supplies to tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees in the war-weary nation’s south, a U.N. official said Sunday.
The refugees were forced to return home from neighboring Ethiopia after the ouster of former President Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was the main supporter of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army. The rebels have been fighting in southern Sudan for autonomy since 1983.
James Ingram, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told a news conference Sunday that the airdrop will start as soon as security arrangements can be organized with the rebels.
He said planes will take off from Lokichokio, Kenya, and drop supplies on the Sudanese town of Nasir, on the border with Ethiopia.
“I have assured the government of Sudan that the United Nations will monitor this operation closely . . . ,” Ingram said.
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