Sudan dismisses UN report on Darfur displacement

October 18, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government denied report by the UN that there has been mass displacement in North Darfur state as a result of escalation in violence.

The governor of North Darfur State, Osman Mohamed Yusuf Kibir told Sudan news agency (SUNA) that the state “is violence free”.

Kibir also said that he has summoned the UN official who made these statements.

This week Gregory Alex, head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in northern Darfur, told Reuters that around 24,000 people fled their homes after clashes between government and rebel forces near the areas of Bir Maza and Disa.

The rest were displaced because of other forms of violence, including tribal fighting, Alex told Reuters in a telephone interview from El Fasher, North Darfur’s state capital.

But Kibir said that Alex was speaking about events that happened in the last six months and not recently.

He also said that the number of displaced people in the camps is dropping due to voluntary repatriation.

Last month Sudanese government launched a military campaign targeting rebel positions in Northern Darfur.

This week Khartoum hosted a broad consultation forum on Darfur crisis in order to set out a national vision towards the end of the five years conflict where more that 300000 people where killed since 2003.

Darfur rebels boycotted the forum saying it is an attempt to deflect charges brought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

In mid-July the ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno- Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Sudan’s government is seeking international support for having the UN Security Council dismiss or delay the request.

(ST)