The Popular Congress Party in South Kordofan has called on the Sudanese government to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict. The party’s leader in the state criticized the government’s current negotiating position of linking aid access to security arrangements and relations with South Sudan.

PCP is the party of the Islamic Movement’s former leader Hassan al-Turabi, erstwhile ally of President Bashir and now a fierce critic.

Awad Falestini, the party secretary for its sub-office in South Kordofan, told Radio Tamazuj that neither the Khartoum government nor the rebel group SPLM-N are serious about responding to the initiative proposed by the United Nations, African Union and Arabs League to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people in the areas under the control of the SPLM-N.

This Tripartite Initiative had major diplomatic backing but failed to impact the situation on the ground. The initiative was nominally accepted by both the Sudanese government and SPLM-N, but its execution became conditional on political talks, which failed.

“There is no connection between delivery of aid assistances and the cutting of ties between SPLM-N and South Sudan’s ruling party, nor security arrangements between Juba and Khartoum,” Falestini commented.

Falestini called on the two parties to open safe corridors in order to enable aid organizations to deliver assistance to victims of the conflicts in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. He specifically said that foreign organizations should be allowed to operate, though under monitoring.

He pointed out that some areas in South Kordofan are experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. He stressed that the affected people resorted to cutting bark off trees in order to feed themselves.

File photo: PCP Secretary-General Kamal Omar.