Darfur region is now largely pacified – Sudanese president

July 22, 2007 (EL-FASHER) – The Sudanese president and Cabinet ministers convened for an exceptional session in Darfur on Sunday as part of a government effort to showcase that the troubled western Sudanese region is now largely pacified.

“We would like to stress that the situation in Darfur is not the (world’s) worst humanitarian tragedy, as western media describe it,” President Omar al-Bashir told thousands of supporters at a rally in the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher after holding his Cabinet meeting.

Al-Bashir said his three-day tour across Darfur showed that insecurity was not prevalent there anymore. His visit came as the U.N. and various humanitarian groups report near daily occurrences of violence, car hijackings and clashes throughout the vast, arid region nearly the size of France.

The United Nations says over 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003, when local rebels from ethnic African tribes took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of decades of neglect and discrimination.

The U.N. blames the government-sponsored janjaweed militias for the bulk of the atrocities against African villagers. A cabinet minister and a suspected janjaweed chief have been charged with 51 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Al-Bashir’s government contests these figures, Khartoum says only 9,000 people have died in the violence that started when mostly non-Arab rebels accused the central government of neglecting the region and took up arms.

After opening a number of new hospitals, wells and a renovated football stadium, Bashir catalogued the works his government had done for the region.

“During our visit we confirmed that most of Darfur is now secure and enjoying real peace,” Bashir told around 35 ministers in an open cabinet meeting.

NORMAL LIVES

To stem the revolt, Khartoum mobilised militias, who now stand accused of rape, pillage and murder. Washington says the central government and militias are guilty of genocide, a charge Bashir’s administration rejects.

“There has been a lot of black propaganda about Darfur and Sudan, lies, hypocrisy, speaking about racial cleansing,” said Interior Minister Zubeir Bashir Taha.

“The Bush-Blair axis has been responsible for this black propaganda and we’d like to show them this is not the case.”

Most of Bashir’s ministers voiced their support, but one, from the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, said the conflict could not be ignored.

“If people continue to say that there’s no problem in Darfur then we will never solve the problem of Darfur,” said Minister of Investment Malik Agar. “It’s like a bleeding thumb.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrests warrants for junior cabinet Minister Ahmed Haroun and an allied militia leader, both accused of conspiring to commit war crimes.

Haroun was present at the meeting. Unable to travel outside Sudan or greet international delegations, he represents the ruling party at most official functions.

AVOIDING DISPLACED CAMPS

“Our visit has shown that most of Darfur is now enjoying real peace and that people are leading a normal daily life,” said the president, who has avoided touring the region’s multiple refugee camps — ome to the world’s largest humanitarian operation– where over 2 million people live since their villages were destroyed.

The ministers also met no Darfuri war victims and spent much of the day in an air-conditioned hall.

Bashir said he had met with leaders of the camp communities who wanted to go home voluntarily.

The president has visited Darfur on several occasions, but the current tour with Cabinet ministers was his first trip to the remote region since a peace agreement was signed in May 2006.

Though the U.N. says violence has only worsened since the peace deal, Khartoum resisted for months a push for U.N. peacekeepers to replace an overwhelmed African Union mission now in the region. In June, Khartoum finally agreed to a “hybrid force” of some 26,000 U.N. and African troops, which could still take months to come.

Al-Bashir was due to fly to El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, on Monday before returning to Khartoum.

(AP/Reuters)