Sudan wants foreign groups to stop distributing aid

By Khaled Abdelaziz and Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's president said on Monday he wanted foreign aid groups to stop distributing aid in Sudan within a year, stepping up his defiance of an international war crimes warrant against him.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir expelled 13 international aid groups this month, accusing them of helping the International Criminal Court, which has indicted him on suspicion of orchestrating atrocities in Darfur. Aid groups deny working with the court.

In an emotional speech to thousands of soldiers and police, Bashir said he had ordered his Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to hand over the distribution of all relief to Sudanese groups -- a move that could freeze the work of more than 70 foreign organisations still working in Darfur and other areas.

If carried out, the order will also force international donors, including the United States, Britain and the European Union, to decide whether they will continue to pour millions into projects across the underdeveloped country without full control over how their aid is distributed.

"We have ordered the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to completely 'Sudanise' the voluntary work in Sudan within one year and after that we don't want international organisations to deal with Sudanese citizens on relief," Bashir told the rally.

"If they want to continue providing aid, they can just leave it at the airport and Sudanese NGOs (non governmental organisations) can distribute the relief."

"CLEAR OUT SPIES"

"We need to clear our country of any spies," he told the cheering crowd in Khartoum's Green Square rally ground.