: CARE and several other NGOs have announced that they will pull out of the south Sudan. The reason: Lack of a security guarantee from the SPLA. CARE says that it is currently aiding around 250,000 people in West Equatoria, Jonglei, and Bahr al-Ghazal states. Most NGOs operate under tacit agreements with local governments or -- as in the case of the SPLA -- guerrilla forces that control a region. According to US sources, the SPLA wants CARE to sign an explicit Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the SPLA. The US source says that the SPLA has threatened CARE and three-dozen other NGOs with expulsion if they fail to sign the MOU. FYEO suspects the MOU gambit is an attempt by the SPLA to portray itself as a government-in-being.