KHARTOUM, 15 August 2004 — Sudanese President Omar Bashir yesterday reaffirmed his government’s ability to restore security and stability in the Darfur, blaming unnamed “enemies” for provoking sedition in the war-torn western region. “We are capable of reining in the sedition in Darfur and restoring security and social peace and maintaining the country’s unity and sovereignty,” Bashir said in a radio address marking the golden jubilee of Sudan’s armed forces.
He charged that “enemies are saddened with any accomplishment achieved by Sudan and intensify their conspiracies against the country,” adding: “They kindled sedition in Darfur so as to ... deny Sudan the fruits of peace and of contribution by the international community in development of the regions affected by the war.”
The United Nations estimates that up to 50,000 people have been killed since Sudan’s army forces and Arab Janjaweed militia cracked down on African tribal groups backing a rebellion that erupted in February 2003. However, the government disputes the figure.
Another 1.2 million people have fled their homes in Sudan and up to 200,000 more have been settled in makeshift camps in neighboring Chad, the United Nations says. The UN Security Council on July 30 gave Sudan a stern warning to rein in militia accused of committing atrocities in Darfur within 30 days or face international action.
Khartoum at first angrily rejected the ultimatum, then relented and agreed to abide by its terms. A plan for implementation of the UN Security Council resolution was negotiated by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail and Jan Pronk, Annan’s special envoy for Sudan.
A UN spokesman said Friday that Sudan would meet one of the requirements this weekend by listing zones in Darfur that can be secured for displaced persons within the 30-day period. But an official with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday he was “doubtful” that it would be possible to establish security by the August 30 Security Council deadline.
US Charge d’Affaires Gerard Gallucci, meanwhile, has denied allegations that the United States is planning to topple the Sudanese government militarily with an eye on the country’s oil and gold. And in an apparent shift in the priorities set by the Security Council, Galluci said the most urgent task was not the disarming of the Janjaweed but the “cessation of attacks on civilians.”
Gallucci also called on the Khartoum government to accept African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Darfur. The first half of a 300-strong AU protection force was to be airlifted into the Darfur region today to help observe a cease-fire between the government and rebel groups.
In another development, reports yesterday said that a man was killed in a clash in a camp for internally displaced people near Nyala, in Darfur. Gov. Al-Haj Atta Al-Mannan, according to the Al-Anbaa daily, blamed the international aid group CARE for causing the death, explaining that CARE transferred 17 displaced people from one camp to another without official permission. A resident of the Kalma camp was killed in a clash that broke out after the group arrived, Mannan said, adding that an investigation was under way.
According to a UN report, Sudanese police officers sent to restore security in the region are sexually exploiting displaced women. Khartoum has said it deployed 10,000 police to region.
“IDPs (Internally Displaced People) report increasing incidents of sexual abuse and exploitation in Abu Shouk Camp near El-Fasher committed by police officers,” said the UN humanitarian situation report received by Reuters yesterday.
“According to the IDPs the police are exploiting women’s inability to venture outside of the camp to collect firewood out of fear of Janjaweed attacks by collecting the firewood for the women in exchange for sexual favors,” the report added.
Rights groups and the two main rebel groups in Darfur say Khartoum armed Arab militiamen known locally as Janjaweed — a term derived from the Arabic for “devils on horseback” — to loot and burn African farming villages.
