Violence threatens Sudan talks
2007-09-11 15:34
Nyala - Ongoing violence in Sudan's Darfur region threatens to undermine planned peace talks between Khartoum and rebel groups, a British minister said as he flew into the war-torn area on Tuesday.
British Foreign Office Minister for Africa Mark Malloch Brown made the remarks a day after rebels said government aircraft had bombed a rebel-held Darfur town. A Sudanese army spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Malloch Brown, on a day-long trip to Darfur, said: "Ongoing volatility on the ground could undermine peace talks. My message is that the government should try to stop all offensive action and the rebels should do the same."
Khartoum signed a joint communique with the United Nations last week that included pledges to cease hostilities in Darfur, prepare for the arrival of a 26 000-strong joint UN/African Union peacekeeping mission, and to lay the foundations for peace talks in Libya on October 27.
200 000 people killed
Malloch Brown said: "At the moment, we are pushing a constructive diplomatic engagement trying to get everyone to the talks. If that approach fails, then we'll come down hard on whatever side is responsible for that, whether that is the rebels or the government."
He said that sanctions were "in reserve", and that measures taken against rebel groups could include a reduction in the support offered them in foreign countries.
International experts estimated that at least 200 000 people had died and 2.5 million displaced in over four years of violence in Darfur, which Washington called genocide.
Khartoum denied genocide and said the Western media overplayed the conflict. The International Criminal Court was investigating war crimes allegations in the region.
Khartoum told to stop bombing campaign
Darfur rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the Sudan Liberation Army's Unity (SLA-Unity) faction said government helicopters and Antonov aircraft had attacked their positions in the town of Haskanita on Monday. The rebels said they repelled a ground assault that followed the bombardment.
A spokesperson for the AU, which had a small force of peacekeepers in Haskanita, had confirmed receiving reports of fighting in the town, although details still had to be checked by officers.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Khartoum to stop its bombing campaign in Darfur, saying the air attacks violated a UN Security Council resolution.
Abu-Bakr Mohammed Kadu, an SLA-Unity field commander, said his forces had taken 10 government soldiers prisoner during the attack on Haskanita. Kadus said: "We call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to come. We want to hand the POWs over to them."
Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr from JEM said the attack had not affected the group's determination to attend the peace talks, but added the incident raised questions over Khartoum's commitment.