The World : Sudan Food Relief Stalled

More than 320 tons of food were stockpiled at Khartoum airport ready for an emergency airlift to starving people in southern Sudan, which is racked by civil war. But the airlift was stalled because the government refused to give permission for it. Rebels in the south, who already have downed one civilian airliner over territory they control, have threatened to shoot down any relief flights that enter the area without their permission. Relief agencies say 2 million or 3 million people in southern Sudan are in danger of starvation because of the civil war and drought.