KHARTOUM, 30 October 2004 — Sudan said yesterday it was ready to welcome a UN commission due in Khartoum next week to investigate allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the troubled Darfur region. Justice Minister Ali Osman Yassin told Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper that he was officially notified by the United Nations on Thursday that the commission would arrive on Nov. 6.
A five-member UN panel has been created by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into allegations of genocide and investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the region and as many as 1.5 million people have fled their homes since two rebel movements rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003.
Annan was asked to set up a commission in a UN Security Council resolution adopted last month after the United States said it believed genocide had been committed in Darfur, scene of what the UN describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
In Khartoum, Yassin said members of the commission would meet President Omar Bashir and other ministers. “The government will welcome the commission and provide it with all facilities and assistance it requires for discharging its mission in Darfur,” said Yassin.
