Eighteen bombs fell
Monday near a base of the U.N.-sponsored Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) in the
rebel-controlled town of Mapel, said Donato Kiniger-Passigli, spokesman
for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
News Article by AP posted on August 08, 2000 at 17:18:21: EST (-5 GMT)
U.N. suspends aid flights in southern Sudan
By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press Writer
GENEVA (AP) -- The United Nations has suspended relief flights
to
southern Sudan after the bombing of a humanitarian aid base in
a
rebel-held area, U.N. officials said Tuesday.
Eighteen bombs fell
Monday near a
base of the U.N.-sponsored Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) in
the
rebel-controlled town of Mapel, said Donato Kiniger-Passigli, spokesman
for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A U.N. aircraft that the Sudanese government had cleared for aid
flights
was on the airstrip in Mapel at the time, he added. An
investigation has been
launched, he said. No further details were
available.
Meanwhile, aid groups participating in OLS issued a statement
condemning
"the recent escalation in the bombing of civilian
targets in southern Sudan
by the government of Sudan."
which is mainly Christian and animist, from the
predominantly
Muslim and Arabized north.