DATE=2/5/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SUDAN/PLANE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258855
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sudanese militiamen are holding a plane
chartered by the United Nations World Food Program in
southern Sudan. Lisa Bryant reports from Cairo that
the captors apparently are demanding the release of
colleagues held by anti-government rebels.
TEXT: The World Food Program confirmed Saturday that
an aircraft with at least three people on board was
being held in the Fanjak region of Sudan, about 750
kilometers south of the country's capital, Khartoum.
A statement by Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission
said the captors were pro-government militiamen who
seized the plane in retaliation for last month's
detention of three of their leaders by the Sudan
People's Liberation Army - Sudan's main southern
guerrilla group. The agency said the militia leaders
were being held in a secret destination in southern
Sudan.
The agency also said the government was now working
with the United Nations for the release of the plane
as soon as possible. Those on board reportedly
include at least one U-N official.
The agency said the Sudanese government was committed
to delivering relief to those in need, regardless of
their political ties in Sudan's protracted civil war.
That war, which has so far killed about two-million
people, initially pitted the Muslim north against the
Christian and animist south. But in the past decade,
other groups from all parts of the country have united
to oppose the government of President Omar al Bashir.
Both sides have manipulated food and other aid for
their own political purposes.
More recently, the government has also been shaken by
an internal power struggle between President Bashir
and Sudan's spiritual leader, Hassan al-Turabi.
President Bashir has apparently gained the upper hand
and several Arab countries, including Egypt, have
endorsed his administration. (Signed)
NEB/SB/ALW/JP
05-Feb-2000 10:38 AM EDT (05-Feb-2000 1538 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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