Planes carrying UN-sponsored relief supplies to southern Sudan resumed on Wednesday, ending a week-long suspension, after Khartoum made safety assurances, said a senior UN official in Khartoum.
The United Nations' acting Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator, Masoud Haider, told AFP the relief flights were resumed Wednesday from Lokichokio in north Kenya and from Obeid in central Sudan "according to a schedule agreed upon with the (Sudanese) government."
The UN said Tuesday it would resume all humanitarian relief flights to Sudan within 24 hours following assurances of their safety from Sudanese President Omar Bashir.
UN relief flights to Sudan were suspended on August 8 after humanitarian agencies working with the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) accused the government of stepping up bombing raids on civilian targets.
The flights from Lokichokio will take relief to areas held by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in southern Sudan, said Haider who is also the World Food Program (WFP) representative in Sudan.
Planes from Obeid will fly to both government- and SPLA-held areas there, he said.
Asked if Khartoum would have a representative in Lokichokio to monitor the loading of the relief supplies, Haider said this question and other points raised by Khartoum would be discussed with Ambassador Tom Vraalson, the UN Secretary General's special envoy.
Vraalson will arrive in Khartoum on Saturday, Haider said - KHARTOUM (AFP)
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