Photo: Olivier Chassot/United Nations

Displaced by fighting between government and rebels.

Khartoum — Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) announced today that it revoked the licenses of an unspecified number of local humanitarian groups.

HAC commissioner Suleiman Abdurrahman said in press statements after a parliamentary hearing that there are 4,200 aid groups in Sudan but only 300 of them are active.

Abdurrahman noted a decision by his body to expel several foreign aid groups from East Sudan last year saying that they were actually asked to replace "failed" projects they were running with other successful ones.

The Sudanese official stressed that Khartoum has no problem with foreign groups working in the country.

Khartoum has long resisted regional and international demands from accessing rebel-held areas in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states despite famine warnings citing security concerns.