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Al Jazeera English - Americas - UN 'divided' over Sudan aid crisis

Al Jazeera English - Americas - UN 'divided' over Sudan aid crisis

The United Nations Security Council has failed to agree on a response to Sudan's decision to expel 13 aid groups from the country following the indictment of its president for war crimes.

France had reportedly urged the council on Friday to issue a non-binding statement that condemned Sudan's decision.

However attempts to urge the council to act have been blocked by opposition from Sudan's council allies, Libya and China, the Associated Press reported.

Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, ordered the aid agencies out of the country on Thursday, a day after the International Criminial Court at The Hague issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has warned that aid operations in the troubled Darfur region would be "irrevocably damaged" and has urged Sudan to reconsider.

And Catherine Bragg, the UN's deputy emergency relief co-ordinator who briefed the council, said one of the Darfuri refugee camps could run out of water by next week.

Meanwhile Barack Obama, the US president, has invited the UN secretary-general to the White House next week, officials said on Friday, in which they are expected to discuss the Sudan crisis.

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