All that remains of Bor, a small market town that has changed hands four times in the latest South Sudan conflict, is an overwhelming smell of putrefying bodies and scattered trash that successive waves of looters ignored.

Warped sheets of rusting corrugated iron roofing, apparently the remains of market stalls, lie in tangled heaps.

Sudan on Sunday said it suspended activities of the international Red Cross because it violated guidelines for working in the war-torn country.

"We observe that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is doing activities outside of its mandate under international law and the agreement with the government of Sudan," said a statement from Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission, which confirmed it suspended ICRC's activities as of February 1.

Sudanese authorities have ordered the Red Cross to suspend its activities, the organization said Saturday, in the latest restriction to be placed on foreign aid workers in the war-ravaged country.

"We have received an official letter from the HAC (Humanitarian Aid Commission) informing us to suspend our activities with effect from today," Rafiullah Qureshi, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan, told AFP.

Sudanese armed rebels must be given amnesty and political prisoners should be freed, a leading dissident expelled by Sudan's ruling party says.

Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, a former adviser to President Omar al-Bashir, made the demand late Tuesday after Bashir appealed for a political and economic "renaissance" in a country ravaged by government-rebel clashes, poverty and political turmoil.

A Russian diplomat and his wife were stabbed in the Sudanese capital Tuesday by a man anguished by the death of his brother in violence-plagued Central African Republic, police said.

Khartoum police said the diplomat and his wife were wounded with a knife at the embassy gates, adding that their condition was "stable" without giving their names.

Government and opposition rebels are still fighting for control of key parts of South Sudan and numbers seeking refuge in U.N. bases are rising, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The U.N. Mission in South Sudan has reported "deteriorating security" in parts of Unity state where there are important oil facilities, deputy U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Monday appealed for a political and economic renaissance in his country ravaged by war, poverty and political turmoil.

"We in the National Congress Party (NCP) are calling for all Sudanese to participate in this renaissance," he said in a speech designed to address urgent calls for reform in his 25-year-old regime, but which fell short of critics' expectations.

A Sudanese newspaper which reported on commodity shortages and alleged corruption has been suspended from publishing, its editor said on Sunday.

Idris al-Doma said he was informed of the ban against al-Jarida during a Sunday meeting with agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Sudanese warplanes have launched air strikes against a key rebel-held town in war-torn South Kordofan state, the insurgents said on Sunday, but there were no reports of casualties.

"Two Sukhoi jet fighters attacked Kauda town," the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North said in a statement.

South Sudan's government accused rebel forces of breaking a ceasefire Saturday, less than 24 hours after it began and dashing hopes of a swift end to the brutal conflict.

The ceasefire, aimed at stopping five weeks of bitter fighting in which thousands have died, formally began at 1730 GMT on Friday, with both sides reporting clashes as the deadline approached.