US supports AU in Sudan

2004-10-19 10:38

Boca Raton - President George W Bush is providing two United States military aircraft for two weeks starting in late October to help the African Union mission in Sudan's Darfur region, the White House said on Monday.

Washington is working with international partners, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Union to expand the African Union mission to about 3 500 personnel, spokesperson Scott McClellan said in a statement.

The 20-month-old civil war in Darfur has displaced 1.5 million people and spawned what the United Nations has termed the world's worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.

McClellan also renewed US calls for the government in Khartoum and rebels in the troubled western region to adhere to a ceasefire, allow for the free movement of humanitarian workers and relief supplies and to work in good faith toward a negotiated settlement.

The United States has demanded that Khartoum end its support for Arab Janjaweed militia, who are accused of mounting an ethnic cleansing campaign against the region's indigenous black African population.

Washington has officially said that it believes genocide has been committed in the region.

AFP