SUDAN.- Frithjof Schmidt, a German Green MEP, said that the security situation is imperilling the distribution of food aid to the 2.5 million people who have been displaced since 2003.

Last month Oxfam announced that it was phasing out its activities in Gereida, the largest refugee camp in Darfur, where more than 130,000 people have sought refuge. Oxfam claimed that insufficient action was being taken by those controlling the surrounding area to address attacks against aid workers. Several other relief agencies have also decided that it is too dangerous for them to work in Darfur.

"If the security situation cannot be quickly stabilised, then the aid organisations will no longer be able to provide even basic food supplies," said Schmidt. "A famine of dramatic extent is looming."

Schmidt attributed the security problems to both the "enduring terror" inflicted by the Janjaweed militia, who are widely believed to be a proxy force for the Khartoum government, and to turf wars among guerrilla fighters opposed to the government.

"The growing fragmentation of the rebel groups into about 18 competing groups increasingly threatens the implementation of international aid efforts," he added. "Arrangements concerning humanitarian convoys are scarcely possible any more, and bandits are becoming an increasing menace."