Sudan expels directors of British aid organisations

SUDAN ordered the expulsion of the directors of two humanitarian organisations yesterday for their statements on the Darfur crisis.

The Humanitarian Affairs Commission said the programme directors of Save the Children UK and Oxfam International had violated the laws on non-intervention in the country’s political, ethnic or sectarian issues.

“Given the fact that your organisation has violated these laws, you are hereby informed to leave the country within 48 hours,” said the letters, signed by Abdel Khaliq Al-Hussein, acting commissioner for humanitarian action.

The commission is a department of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

Amy Barry, an Oxfam spokeswoman at its Oxford headquarters, confirmed the expulsion of its programme manager for North Sudan.

In Khartoum, the Save the Children country director refused to comment.