Arab League: We respect Sudan's sovereignty

The Arab League envoy for Sudan, Salah Halima, has said that League is "coordinating with Sudan concerning humanatarian aid activity in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan". "The Arab League is following all aspects of humanitarian issues in Sudan," said Halima. Halima told Arabstoday: "The Arab League has a very prominent role in the aid efforts in Sudan. We first started working in Darfur, then we moved to the Blue Nile province and South Kordofan...all these places have suffered the consequences of military conflict." "The Arab League supported the return of all Darfur refugees to their original residences, where we built model villages for them, in which we provided fundamental infrastructure like water, electricity, schools, and health care units. We also plan to build small factories there, which will produce construction materials needed for the returnees to build their houses by themselves," said the envoy. He continued: "In the first stage, we concentrated on building the model villages and the different service units needed. In the next stage we plan to launch some agricultural projects which will help in dealing with the food problem and can also provide a good income for residents, in addition to other projects for women and children." Asked about Sudanese reservations on the aid activities in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, Halima said: "The Arab League always takes national sovereignty into account. At the same time, we respect international law in dealing with places that need aid." Halima added: "The Sudanese government has declared that it is assessing the tripartite proposal for aid efforts in Sudan, which was prepared by the Arab League, African Union, and the UN." The Sudanese government had declared earlier that humanitarian activities shall be subject to the national authorities, as Sudan had doubts about aid organisations that purported to offer military support to the region's insurgents.