Sudan gov't orders INGOs to stop distributing aid

Sudan gov't aims to Sudanize voluntary work in Sudan. Within one year no INGOs will distribute relief to Sudanese citizens.

Mon Mar 16, 2009 - Sudan orders aid groups to stop distributing relief

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Monday he had ordered that all international aid groups should stop distributing aid inside Sudan within a year.

"We have ordered the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to completely Sudanize the voluntary work in Sudan within one year and after that no international organizations will distribute relief to Sudanese citizens," Bashir told a rally of armed forces.

"They (the international organizations) can just leave their food aid at the airport and Sudanese NGOs can distribute the relief."

Sudan ordered the expulsion of 16 non-governmental organizations after a Hague court issued a war crimes warrant for Bashir.