Sudan calls for international aid

Sudan has called on the international community to provide food and medical aid to help both rebel defectors and civilians in the south.

Sudan's first Vice-President, General al-Zubair Mohamed Salih, told a news conference that continued fighting and a poor harvest in the southern region of Bahr el-Ghazal had left thousands of people in urgent need of aid.

Sudanese media reported last week that thousands of people had left areas controlled by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army SPLA in the south for government-controlled areas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service