Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih Tuesday called for U.N. aid shipments being held "in the sea" near Iraq or at Iraq's borders to be released into the country.

CNN: Coalition blocking aid, says Iraq

But Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih Tuesday said the U.S. and Britain were holding up shipments of food and medical supplies which Iraq would receive under the oil for food program.

CNN: British troops in southern Iraq.

However, this chain of succession was disrupted with the vanishing of the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: A Nuclear Iran: The Case for Action

Isn't it a fact that the first national government of "Mahdi" Muhammad Ahmad (in the 1880s) endangered the British strategy of to unify the entire area from Cairo to Capetown and place it under their rule?

BBC: Sudan - should we do more?

The removal of Mr Turabi has cleared the way for the government to make its peace with two exiled northern politicians, Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, and Muhammad Osman Mirghani, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

ECONOMIST: Sudan��s chance for peace