Expelled U.S. aid groups in talks over Darfur

By Katie Nguyen and Andrew Heavens
LONDON/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Three U.S. aid groups expelled from Sudan three months ago are in talks to send new teams back into the country, relief workers said on Tuesday.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered 13 foreign aid agencies to leave north Sudan in March after the International Criminal Court indicted him for war crimes in the western Darfur region.
Khartoum had accused aid groups of giving the ICC information about alleged atrocities in Darfur, where the United Nations says six years of conflict has killed up to 300,000 people and uprooted more than 2.7 million. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.
Although agencies have denied working with the ICC, Sudan has repeatedly said it will not allow them to return. However, analysts say a flurry of diplomatic activity by Washington, including visits by Senator John Kerry and U.S. special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration, has made progress.
Mercy Corps, an Oregon-based group which had large operations in Darfur and the volatile Abyei region claimed by both north and south Sudan, said it was discussing sending in new teams under the flag of Mercy Corps Scotland, an affiliated Edinburgh-based charity.
"There are ongoing negotiations with the Sudanese government, but nothing has been finalized as yet," said a spokesman for Mercy Corps Scotland. "We're hopeful an agreement can be reached as soon as possible."
Several aid sources said the expelled U.S. operations of CARE and Save the Children were also in talks with officials to bring new teams into north Sudan, via branches of their organizations affiliated to other countries.
The fate of the other expelled non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Oxfam GB and the French and Dutch arms of Medecins Sans Frontieres, is still unclear, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Officials from the Khartoum government's Humanitarian Aid Commission were not immediately available for comment.
"PRACTICAL WAY FORWARD"
The United Nations' humanitarian chief John Holmes told Reuters he was aware of the negotiations involving the U.S. aid groups, calling it a "practical way forward."
"The government made clear that while they couldn't reverse the decision they had taken to expel the 13 international NGOs, if NGOs turned up with new names and new logos they had the possibility to be welcomed back again," Holmes said.
"Some of them are taking advantage of that and discussing how exactly that would work."
A CARE official declined comment because of the sensitivity of the issue. Save the Children officials were not immediately available for comment.
Before the expulsions, the United Nations and aid groups were running the world's largest humanitarian operation in Darfur. The expelled agencies carried out 40 percent of humanitarian work in the region, which is roughly the size of France. Continued...
Source: Reuters