DATE=10/26/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-240744
TITLE=SUDAN / "TRAGEDY" (L ONLY)
BYLINE=LARRY FREUND
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOUR INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN GROUPS MET IN NEW YORK
TODAY (MONDAY) WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF COUNTRIES ON THE UNITED
NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, TO URGE NEW EFFORTS TO END THE CIVIL
WAR IN SUDAN. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT LARRY FREUND REPORTS FROM NEW
YORK.
TEXT: THE FOUR HUMANITARIAN GROUPS SAY THE WAR IN SUDAN AND THE
RESULTING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS HAVE NOW REACHED AN UNIMAGINABLE
AND EXTRAORDINARY LEVEL OF TRAGEDY. PEACE, THEY SAY (IN A JOINT
STATEMENT), IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR PROGRESS AND TO PREVENT FURTHER
HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE.
GUY TOUSIGNANT, SECRETARY GENERAL OF CARE INTERNATIONAL -- ONE OF
THE FOUR GROUPS -- SAYS HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE ALONE, IN A
POLITICAL VACUUM, WILL NEITHER SOLVE SUDAN'S PROBLEMS NOR
STOP THE NEXT FAMINE. WHAT IS NEEDED, HE ADDS, IS THE POLITICAL
WILL TO END THE WAR. MARILYN MCHARG [EDS: PRON. MICK-'ARRG], OF
"DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS," DESCRIBES THE FIGHTING IN SUDAN AS A
FORGOTTEN WAR.
/// FIRST MCHARG ACT ///
WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SECURITY COUNCIL PUT SUDAN ON
THE AGENDA AND TO REALLY LOOK AT THE SITUATION AND SEE
WHAT MECHANISMS ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM FOR HELPING SOLVE
THE SITUATION IN SUDAN AND ACHIEVE A MORE PEACEFUL
SOLUTION. AND WE FEEL NOW THAT THIS WAR IS EVOLVING AND
BECOMING MORE OF A REGIONAL ISSUE AND INTER-CONNECTED
WITH OTHER WARS IN THE AREA THAT IT BECOMES EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ADDRESS IT.
/// END ACT ///
ALSO PARTICIPATING IN THE MEETING WITH U-N SECURITY COUNCIL
MEMBERS WERE OXFAM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE SAVE-THE-CHILDREN
FUND.
AN ESTIMATED ONE-MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIED AS A RESULT OF FIGHTING
IN SUDAN OR FROM FAMINE DURING MANY YEARS OF CIVIL WAR BETWEEN
SOUTHERN REBELS AND THE ISLAMIST GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH OF THE
COUNTRY. WHILE A CEASE-FIRE WAS EXTENDED EARLIER THIS MONTH
BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE REBELS, THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF
RENEWED FIGHTING.
/// REST OPT ///
MARILYN MCHARG (OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS) HAS SPENT MORE THAN
FOUR YEARS IN SUDAN, BOTH IN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. SHE SAYS
SHE IS AMAZED BY THE RESILIENCY OF THE SUDANESE PEOPLE.
/// SECOND MCHARG ACT ///
THEY HAVE FACED SO MANY DIFFICULT SITUATIONS IN TERMS OF
DISPLACEMENT, THEIR HOUSES BEING BURNED TO THE GROUND,
LOSS OF CROPS, THEIR LIVELIHOOD ASSETS BEING LOOTED. AND
SOMEHOW PEOPLE JUST KEEP CONTINUING. IT'S ACTUALLY
ADMIRABLE THE WAY THAT THE POPULATIONS JUST CONTINUE TO
DO EVERYTHING THAT THEY CAN TO SURVIVE.
/// END ACT ///
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IS CALLING FOR UNIMPEDED ACCESS TO ALL
LOCATIONS IN SUDAN FOR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS. OTHERWISE, IT
WARNS, MANY MORE LIVES WILL BE LOST. (SIGNED)
NEB/NY/LSF/WTW
26-Oct-98 5:01 PM EST (2201 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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