Zoellick meets African leaders on Sudan, Rwanda

By David Mageria and Arthur Asiimwe

KIGALI, June 2 (Reuters) – U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said on Thursday he had asked Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to stop violence, rape and intimidation of aid workers in the western Darfur region.

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.(AFP).

“The key message … is that the eyes of the world are directed on Darfur, so the rapes, the violence, we have to try and stop it,” he said, speaking after his first face-to-face talks with Bashir, in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

Zoellick said he had emphasised to the Sudanese government that it must rein in the militias who are behind the atrocities and killing in Darfur.

“What I stressed in my meetings today is to try and stop the militia attacks, particularly the attacks on women that have caused outrage all over the world, and not intimidate the NGO (non-governmental organisation) workers,” he said.

He said he would meet African Union and United Nations officials, tribal leaders and aid workers and discuss how to get more food to Darfur and improve security.

The U.S. has said it is concerned about genocide in Darfur, remarks that President George W. Bush repeated on Wednesday when he met South African President Thabo Mbeki.

As well as Bashir, Zoellick held private talks on Darfur with President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Zambia’s Lewi Mwanawasa.

Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia have agreed to send troops to Darfur as part of an expanded AU peace force.

In a speech earlier to leaders from the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Africa’s biggest trade bloc, Zoellick said that while the peace deal between the Sudanese government and southern rebels had raised hopes for Africa, the Darfur conflict was a threat to Sudan’s neighbours and the continent.

“We must end this conflict now,” he said.

The Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, which is accused of arming local Arab militias, who burned down villages and slaughtered and raped civilians.

Tens of thousands have been killed in Darfur and more than 2 million have been forced to flee their homes.

RWANDA CONCERN OVER SECURITY

Zoellick also said the U.S. understands Rwanda’s genocide history which justifies the central African country’s deep concern over security.

Rwandan Hutu rebels, who have promised to leave eastern Congo and go home, said this week they were reluctant to do so until they had more guarantees about their future in their native land.

The rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) arrived in eastern Congo after the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which they were accused of perpetrating.

“Some of those forces that are in the Congo remain dangerous people,” Zoellick said. “… Rwanda went through genocide and nobody helped, and so the people of Rwanda are understandably sensitive to their security.”

“If there are people still threatening Rwanda, then Rwanda needs to keep up its safeguards because the lesson that Rwanda learnt was a very hard one which means that Rwanda has to ultimately watch out for its own security.”

On Wednesday a senior UN official threatened military action against the rebels for failing to heed calls to return home peacefully.