After 8 Years, Sudan to Provide Entry to Humanitarian Groups

In another move toward normalization, Sudanese rebels and the country’s interim ruling body say they will allow outside humanitarian organizations to enter the country to help poorer sectors of the population. The decision was reached Monday as part of peace talks being held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, by leaders of Sudan’s ruling council, a united body of civilians and top generals running the country in the wake of president Omar al-Bashir’s overthrow in April, and the rebels, who had been fighting against Bashir’s rule in remote provinces. Bashir had closed the borders to foreign NGOs in 2011. “Peace is the ultimate goal of the government of Sudan,” said, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a general and deputy head of the ruling interim body. “Peace will open a new path for the country. I [have] appealed to the International community to support the process.” Yasir Arman, a leader of an alliance of rebel groups, told the Reuters news agency: “We are expecting that the humanitarian situation is going to improve in Darfur, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.”