Government opens corridors to deliver aid to rebellion-hit Darfur

Friday February 13th, 2004.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Feb 12, 2004 (AP) -- The government on Thursday reopened corridors for trucks and aircraft to deliver aid to the embattled province of Darfur, where about half a million people have been displaced by rebellion.

The state minister at the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Mohammed Youssef Moussa, brushed aside reports of ongoing insurgency in the western province, telling The Associated Press: ``It is true that (the rebels) have started causing damage and today, in particular, they planted a land mine near the town of Ambro that went off, wounding a lorry driver and his assistant.

``The lorry was carrying medical supplies and belonged to Save the Children Fund-UK. So if this is what they are talking about, then they are ... abandoning all humanitarian principles,'' Moussa said in a phone interview.

The government closed large sections of Darfur to aid and humanitarian organizations in December, saying the rebellion had made it too dangerous.

The Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs said aid groups could return to Darfur on Friday. A ministry statement named nine towns and their surrounding districts as being accessible: Ambro, el-Fasher, Genaina, Kornoy, Kulbus, Kutum, Morne, Tine and Zalinge.

The statement, which was broadcast on state radio, did not specify which towns could be reached by land or only by air.

``We have moral and political responsibility and we are shouldering it,'' Moussa said, referring to the rebellion.

Earlier Thursday, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement claimed to have shot down two army helicopters and cut off the roads leading to el- Fasher.

There was no government response Thursday to the claim, which a spokesman for the rebel group made to the AP by satellite telephone from the Chad-Sudan border.

The rebellion, which broke out 12 months ago, is being waged by groups seeking autonomy for Darfur, which they accuse the government of neglecting for years. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting.

Aid agencies estimate the fighting has forced more than 600,000 people to flee their homes. About 100,000 of these people have fled to neighboring Chad.

The United Nations and other relief organizations had complained of the government's blocking their delivery of aid to the stricken people. The government defended the restriction in terms of the insecurity.

On Monday, President Omar el-Bashir said the armed forces were ``in full control'' of Darfur region. The army has recently announced several victories against the rebels.