A Christian ministry operating in Chad is to launch a Christian radio programme for Beria refugees fleeing from recent clashes in Sudan’s Darfur state, reports Mission Network News.

|TOP|The Beria tribal group are often caught in the crossfire between the rebels and Sudanese government, forcing them to flee into neighbouring Chad.

“It causes, of course, any people group to have questions about why God allows these sorts of things to happen, or who loves us in the midst of a situation where they’re being persecuted and nobody seems to respond in the world, they’re left to themselves,” said Tom Dudenhofer of Audio Scripture Ministries.

The ASM project will be the first every Christian radio programme to broadcast in the Berian language.

“With the equipment that was originally sent over to be used with Scripture recording, they're now in the process of providing material that's going to be used by the Beria believers to share with their friends that Jesus loves them."

The seventh round of Darfur peace talks will begin Monday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, following a number of bilateral meetings that have taken place to ensure a smooth start to the talks and to continue putting pressure on the rebels to adopt a constructive approach.

|AD|Most recently, the head of the United Nations mission in Sudan, Jan Pronk, met last week in Muhjariya with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) leader Mini Minawi.

Mr Pronk said his priority for the talks was to have an agreement with a signature “that means something”, according to the UN News Centre.

Meanwhile, the UN’s health agency announced it was rushing emergency vaccines to Sudan in an attempt to dissipate another outbreak of yellow fever threatening the country.

The disease has so far affected 491 people, killing 126 of them, in the central region of South Kordofan, said World Health Organisation spokeswoman Fadela Chaib. The Sudanese government lacks the enough of the vaccines to fight the disease.

"We have learned that there are only 100,000 doses of vaccine in the country, but we are talking about a vaccination campaign for 1.7 million people," Chaib told journalists.

"Vaccination is the only way to stop this," she added.

UN agencies operating in Sudan have launched an emergency appeal for six million dollars in funding to provide the necessary vaccines.