KHARTOUM, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Sudan summoned on Tuesday the British ambassador after he said it was no surprise that protests against food inflation "in a country where hunger stalks the land" had erupted in the past few weeks in the capital.
Khartoum is struggling to contain an economic crisis with spiralling inflation after its former civil war foe South Sudan took most of the country's oil production -- the source of most state revenues -- when it became independent in July.
Sudan has avoided an Arab revolt like Egypt and other North African countries but public anger is rising over food inflation, triggering several small protests in the capital in the past few weeks.
In his personal blog posted on Monday, British ambassador Nicholas Kay said it was "little wonder" that Khartoum had seen such protests.
"The past month has seen a further half a million people fall into food insecurity," he said in the blog entry posted on the embassy's website.
"You don't have to travel to the periphery of Sudan to find hunger. Daily life in Khartoum is increasingly hard," Kay wrote, listing sharp price increases for several basic food items.
He said Khartoum was making life worse for civilians by denying access of aid agencies to the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile where the army has been fighting armed opposition.
"The wars there continue with no end in sight. Civilians suffer while leaders sacrifice lives rather than sit around a table. Miscalculation, pride and an exaggerated sense of strength bring suffering to tens of thousands," Kay said.
"In the very states that should be planting and growing food for much of Sudan and South Sudan, the fields are abandoned. The bitter seeds of future hunger have been sown," Kay wrote.
He also criticised that Sudan had recently closed newspapers as part of new restrictions on media, while no progress was in sight for the border region of Abyei which both north and south claim.
The Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement it had summoned Kay on Tuesday to protest against his blog.
"Much of the information is not accurate or was not put in an objective context," the ministry said, adding that Kay had pledged to be more careful with his comments in the future.
The British embassy in Khartoum could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sudan wants to diversify the economy away from oil by expanding mineral exports and the agricultural sector but analysts say progress has been slow due to poor planning, U.S. trade sanctions and corruption.
Last month, the central bank governor asked fellow Arab states to help stabilise the economy by putting deposits worth ${esc.dollar}4 billion in the central bank and with commercial lenders. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing)
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