Sudan relaxes travel restrictions

Washington, DC, Jun. 9 (UPI) -- The United States Wednesday credited pressure from Washington for forcing Sudan to relax its travel restrictions for humanitarian workers in Darfur.

International relief agencies have accused Sudan of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region. They say the government sponsored Arab militias have killed hundreds of ethnic Africans in Darfur, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country.

Relief agencies also have warned of a possible humanitarian disaster if medicines and food are not immediately provided.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington Sudan has now instituted a new 48-hour visa policy. Previously, Sudan delayed visas for Darfur for weeks and sometimes even months.

Those issued visas were later made to wait in the Sudanese capital Khartoum for special permits required to visit the region.

Boucher said the Sudanese government also has agreed to remove a requirement that humanitarian workers obtain travel permits.

"But there are still some complications, frankly, in how people travel there," he added.