Sudan wants foreign aid groups out within a year

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan's president said Monday he wants all international aid groups out of the country within a year, insisting they can drop off supplies "at airports or seaports" and let Sudanese organizations take care of it.

President Omar al-Bashir has already expelled 13 large foreign aid agencies, most of them operating in Darfur, accusing them of spying for an international court that issued an arrest warrant against him on March 4 for war crimes in the western Sudanese region.

He also shut down three local aid groups, including one of the largest local groups operating in Darfur. The United Nations said those expulsions would leave millions at risk of a humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to a rally of security forces in the capital, Khartoum, the president said all foreign relief groups should go.

"We directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to Sudanize voluntary work," he told a crowd of thousands shouting their support for the president and waving their guns in the air.

"Within a year, we don't want to see any foreign aid group dealing with a Sudanese citizen," al-Bashir said. "If they want to bring relief, let them drop it at airports or seaports. Let the national organizations deal with our citizens."

Al-Bashir didn't elaborate on his directive but was apparently talking about aid groups operating in all of Sudan.

The Netherlands-based International Criminal Court seeking al-Bashir's arrest accuses him of orchestrating atrocities against civilians in Darfur, where his Arab-led government has been battling ethnic African rebels since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.

Sudan denies the charges and says the figures are exaggerated.

The government had warned that issuing the warrant could lead to spontaneous revenge attacks by enraged Sudanese, though it pledged to defend aid workers and diplomats in the country.

Sudanese officials said three foreign aid workers and a Sudanese man kidnapped for three days in Darfur last week were taken by a group seeking to retaliate for the court's decision.

At Monday's rally, al-Bashir again railed against foreign aid groups, which he accuses of providing the court with false testimony against him and his government and of profiting from the Darfur conflict. Sudan, he said, must be cleared of "spies and agents" who "trade" in the Darfur crisis.