New York  - The 13 relief organizations expelled by the Sudanese government last week provided 50 per cent of humanitarian assistance to civilians in need in Sudan's Darfur region, the top UN humanitarian coordinator said Monday.

John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for emergency relief coordinator, said at UN headquarters in New York that neither Khartoum nor the UN or other non-governmental organizations can sufficiently provide assistance alone.

Nairobi/Khartoum  - Sudan's Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi was freed after two months of imprisonment, news reports said Monday. Authorities gave no explanation for the release of the moderate opposition leader, which came just a few days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Turabi's state of health deteriorated significantly in the past days, the Sudan Tribune reported, quoting members of his family.

Khartoum  - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir remained defiant on Sunday on his trip to Darfur, the western Sudanese region where he stands accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Addressing a rally in al-Fashir, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur province and the site of sprawling camps where tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in the area have gathered for aid hand-outs, al-Bashir cast himself as standing against an international conspiracy after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest last week.

Khartoum - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday will attend a rally in Darfur, the western Sudanese region where he stands accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Sudanese Ministry of Information said al-Bashir will attend a rally in al-Fashir, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur province and the site of sprawling camps where tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in the area have gathered for aid hand-outs.

The planned visit is a further sign of al-Bashir's defiance in the face of a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court last week.

Washington - The United States condemned Sudan's expulsion of humanitarian organizations on Friday, warning that the move could imperil millions of people dependent on foreign assistance.

"These organizations provide critical humanitarian assistance to millions of Sudanese, and the forced departure of these organizations immediately and seriously threatens the lives and well-being of displaced populations," State Department acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

Nairobi/Khartoum - They distribute food and medicine, nurse starving children back to health, help traumatized children and raped women to cope with their experiences.

In the eyes of Sudan's government, however, many of the relief agencies that have been working in the embattled western Sudanese province of Darfur are a fifth column - informers for Western governments and the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which on Wednesday issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in Darfur.