Powell: Let's pressure Sudan

2004-07-28 23:05

Cairo - United States Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Wednesday for sustained international pressure on Sudan to resolve the humanitarian crisis in its war-torn Darfur region or face UN sanctions.

"Pressure must be kept on the Sudanese government to make sure that access is allowed and that security is improved," Powell told a news conference in Cairo after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

"The situation in Darfur is a really tragic one."

"These people are in desperate need, we should give the Sudanese government time to respond, but these people don't have that much time before disease, famine take tens of thousands of lives," Powell stressed.

"US policy in the Sudan in the last several years... has been to take off the sanctions, not to put on sanctions, and has worked very hard to achieve a reconciliation and an agreement between south and north," Powell argued.

But "additional action may be required on the part of the international community," he warned, "and that's why we have put forward a resolution before the Security Council."

The United Nations estimates 50 000 people have died in the Darfur conflict pitting government forces and their Arab militia allies against two rebel movements, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement.

More than one million people have also been displaced from their homes since the conflict erupted in February 2003, with hundreds of thousands of others on the verge of starvation, according to aid agencies.

Janjaweed

The Janjaweed, the main Arab militia group allied with the government, has been blamed for much of the atrocities against civilians in Darfur, and the international community has repeatedly called on the Sudanese government to disarm and disband them.

A report released by the African Union on Wednesday said the Arab militiamen had recently burned alive civilians in a Darfur village.

Washington on Tuesday tabled a new version of a draft resolution on Darfur to the UN security council that calls for an embargo on arms for insurgents and militias, and demands that the Sudanese government disarm the militias.

It threatens sanctions against Khartoum if no progress is made.

The Sudanese government, which denies backing the Janjaweed, said on Tuesday it would face down any foreign military intervention in the crisis.

The African Union has said it may deploy a "full-fledged peacekeeping mission" in Darfur to force the Janjaweed militia to lay down its arms in line with a ceasefire deal.

The pan-African body is already planning to send about 300 troops to Darfur by the end of July to protect its team of observers and monitors overseeing the implementation of a shaky ceasefire deal between the militia and rebel groups.

- AFP