12 000 police ready for Dafur
2004-08-03 21:35
Khartoum - Sudan is prepared to deploy up to 12 000 policemen to secure the war-torn western region of Darfur, should that become necessary, information minister Zahawi Ibrahim Malik has said.
He said the current plan was to increase the existing number of policemen in the region from 5 000 to 6 000 over the next few days.
The minister added that the increase was in line with an agreement between the Sudanese government and the United Nations aimed at securing the region and ridding it of various militia groups blamed for many of the atrocities committed against the civilian population.
Malik, however, denied that his government had any plans to reinforce the armed forces as suggested by certain media reports.
Khartoum has come under massive diplomatic pressure to rein in the state-sponsored Arab militias accused of terrorising the region's indigenous minorities since ethnic rebels launched an uprising early last year.
On Friday, the UN security council passed a resolution giving Sudan 30 days to rein in the militias or face international action.
- AFP