Sudan agrees to allow aid into rebel-held border states threatened by famine

Sudan agreed yesterday to allow aid into two rebel-held southern border states where humanitarian groups say fighting has left civilians facing an impending famine.

The move came a day after Sudan reached a deal with South Sudan over oil transit fees, a first step to ending a dispute that brought the hostile neighbours close to war in April.

Both countries still need to mark their disputed frontier and improve security in the violent borderland, one of several issues left over when South Sudan seceded a year ago under a 2005 agreement that ended decades of civil war.

The African Union said it had brokered the deal between Sudan and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to allow aid into rebel-controlled areas in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The United Nations says almost half a million people have been displaced by fighting in the two states.

Sudan said aid would be distributed only under strict supervision by its security forces.