KHARTOUM, 6 September 2004 — Sudanese President Omar Bashir declared that he was committed to resolving the crisis in the troubled western Darfur region amid international criticism that his government was not doing enough to stop what the UN has described as a humanitarian disaster.
Bashir made the comment Saturday during a meeting with a visiting delegation of international Islamic scholars led by prominent Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Yussef Al-Qaradawi, the official Sudan News Agency reported. The agency quoted the president as expressing “the government’s seriousness and concern about resolving the Darfur problem in all its dimensions.”
According to UN estimates, up to 50,000 people have died in Darfur since rebels rose up against the government in February last year, and about 1.4 million people have fled their homes.
The UN Security Council has ordered that Khartoum disarm the Janjaweed, a government-backed Arab militia accused of human rights abuses against the African population of Darfur and violations of a cease-fire agreement.
Qaradawi and his delegation arrived here Thursday in an effort to try to mediate an end to the conflict between the government and rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement.
But observers expressed concern that the red-carpet treatment the scholars were given in Khartoum could send a message to the rebels that the visitors were more sympathetic to the government point of view and undermine their ability to act as mediators.
Meanwhile, a UN report said yesterday that more than 3,000 people have been displaced since the end of August by violence in an area of North Darfur state.
It said villages south of Zam Zam, itself about 17 km (11 miles) south of the North Darfur capital El Fasher, had been attacked. A UN official said the attacks had taken place since Aug. 31 but said it was not yet clear who was behind them.
“Attacks on villages south of Zam Zam have resulted in a population movement of around 3,000 to 4,000 persons,” the UN report said, adding that half of those who fled their homes had been moved to a camp in Zam Zam.
“There has been a sharp upturn in the number of attacks throughout the southern part of North Darfur,” it added.
A UN report last week said Khartoum had met some UN demands but had failed to stop the Janjaweed. The United Nations did not call for sanctions on Sudan but it called for a wider mandate for African monitors to stop abuses.
The United States criticized the United Nations for being soft on Sudan, while the European Union has revived the notion of sanctions saying it would draw up sanctions with a view to implementing them if called for by the United Nations.
