Sudan's government said Sunday it was ready to clear away hurdles to United Nations relief flights to the country's war-stricken south.
"Sudan is committed to remedy the relief questions and to exert efforts for removing hurdles related to Operation Lifeline Sudan," said the government's peace adviser, Dr. Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani.
Operation Lifeline Sudan is a program of UN-sponsored relief flights to civilians in the devastated south, AFP reported.
Atabani was quoted by the state's news agency after a meeting with the UN's special envoy for humanitarian affairs in Sudan, Tom Vraalsen.
Atabani blamed southern rebels for the obstacles to relief flights, specifically rebel military activity in the oil-rich southern states of Bahar Ghazal and Unity.
Vraalsen's discussion with Atabani focused on finding an end to the country's 19-year civil war pitting the Muslim Arab north against Christians and animists from the south. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
