KHARTOUM Sudan AP The United Nations World Food Program has sent some 2500 tons of relief aid for hungry civilians in war-torn southern Sudan a U.N. official said Tuesday. A convoy of seven river barges carrying relief material left the river port of Kosti 300 kilometers miles 195 south of Khartoum on Monday to distribute the aid to people along the Nile river the WFP representative in Khartoum Mohammed Saleheen said in a statement. ``The barges' convoy is the lifeline for half a million hungry people along the Nile river corridor'' the statement said. It said WFP teams will distribute relief to some 33 locations under government and rebel control until the convoy reaches the southern strategic town of Juba early January. Juba a provincial capital about 1200 kilometers 744 miles south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum is the largest town in southern Sudan still under government control. Saleheen said the WFP intends to send more aid in the coming months via the Nile as it is much cheaper than air transport. The WFP used to drop 9500 tons of food a month at a cost of dlrs 30 million into the south in the world's largest aid operation. Aid workers estimate about 1.5 million people are facing severe food shortages in southern Sudan mainly in Bahr el-Ghazal province as a result of drought and fighting. The government and the rebels agreed in October to extend by three months a cease-fire to allow food to reach civilians caught in the war with the rebels in the south. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for 15 years pitting Christian and animist rebels fighting for more autonomy against the government in the Muslim Arab north. About 1.5 million people have died in the war and famines caused by the fighting. UR; mo-my/vj APW19981201.0775.txt.body.html APW19981201.0693.txt.body.html