UN council urges Sudan to let back aid groups
UNITED NATIONS, March 26 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council appealed to Sudan on Thursday to reconsider a decision to expel some aid groups in Darfur after an international court issued an arrest warrant for the country's leader.
Khartoum ordered out 13 foreign groups and shut down three local ones after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant on March 4 against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in the conflict-torn Darfur region.
In a statement, the council said its members "stressed the importance of continuing the distribution of humanitarian assistance to all the needy in Darfur."
They urged Sudan's government "to continue cooperating with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations and appeal to it to reconsider the decision on suspending the activities of some non-government organizations in Sudan."
The statement was read to media by Ambassador Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam of Libya, this month's council president. Diplomats said it had been agreed unanimously by all 15 council members, who include Libya, a neighbor of Sudan.
Bashir, defying the international arrest warrant, traveled to Libya on Thursday for talks with leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's government said. (Reporting by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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