By Ahmed Mikheimar, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, May 5 (IslamOnline.net) – An Egyptian medical convoy became the first Arab relief aid to southern Sudan in 10 years, marked by noticeable presence of western bodies in the strife-torn region.

The two-week mission, that began in mid-April, comprised 14 doctors who visited three southern states, distributing medicine among local inhabitants.

Mansour Hassan, the secretary general of the Alexandria Doctors' Syndicate which championed the mission - said the aid was 50,000 dollars' worth, but its impact was much greater.

"We had checked 2000 cases inflicted with malaria and performed 83 surgeries, that helped a large number restore sight ability," he told IslamOnline.net.

Westerners

The convoy is the first one making it to southern Sudan from an Arab country since the 1990 Gulf War.

Mansour regretted the hiatus, recalling that local inhabitants in Juba area told him that Kuwait has stopped funding Al-Sabah hospital in the southern state.

On the contrary, he said, there are some 12 international relief organizations working in the south, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UNICEF, and Medecins sans Frontiers (MSF).

Mansour said he met one doctor who has toured the south areas over the past six months, but was doubtful of her genuine intentions.

"There are missions other than giving relief, one of them may be testing new medicine on people there," he argued.

Welcomed   

Displaced women from Darfur pump water from a well in the West-Darfur Internal Displaced People (IDP) Camp of Sisi (AFP)

Mansour said the Egyptian convoy was welcomed by southerners, whether Muslims, Christians or even non-believers.

"There are no sensitivity to Arabs and Muslims there. We were greeted hardheartedly," he said.

Mansour recalled that southerners appealed to the Egyptian doctors not to leave the region, given the great service they had rendered to the poor and war-affected locals.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Bashir asked his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in January for Cairo's support to push forward his government's negotiations with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

For 21 years the rebels have battled for greater autonomy from the Arabic-speaking government in Khartoum, in a civil war that left more than two million people dead and many others displaced.

Rough Conditions  

The Egyptian doctor underlined the tough situation in southern Sudan, where moving from one state to the other takes four days across the river instead of a two-hour flight.

"There are no land roads. And life is so hard," he added.

Mansour said the rebels are restricting the movement of individuals and commodities to the south, making living conditions harsh and fanning secessionist sentiments.

The Khartoum government and the SPLM have already agreed that after a six- year transition period the southerners will have the right to vote on either to remain part of Sudan or have their own state.

They have also signed accords on security and sharing the wealth of the oil-rich south.