Powell rules out foreign troops for Darfur, urges greater pressure on Sudan
WASHINGTON, May 5 (AFP) — US Secretary of State Colin Powell ruled out sending foreign troops to quell the conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, calling for greater international pressure on Khartoum to rein in government-backed militias.
There is no army that is going to go in there and put down the insurrection,” Powell told reporters at the State Department. “We have got to use the pressure of the international community on Khartoum.
“We have to have greater response from the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese to call off these militia units that are causing trouble so we can get relief to these people,” he said, adding that he just made that point in a phone call with his German counterpart Joschka Fischer.
Powell’s comments came as a spokesman for the government of Chad said their soldiers and pro-Khartoum militia clashed Wednesday in Chadian territory just over the border from war-torn Darfur.
The Arab militias, known as Janjawids, are also accused of continuing to attack civilians in Darfur, where a year-old war has killed at least 10,000 people and forced a million more to flee their homes in what the United Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis at present.
Last month, UN chief Kofi Annan said the international community should begin looking at all possible options — including the possibility of peacekeepers — to deal with the Darfur situation.
Although Powell dismissed that idea, he and other US officials have been at the forefront of a campaign to press the Sudanese government into allowing humanitarian access to Darfur.
Washington has complained bitterly that Khartoum has prevented urgently needed assistance from reaching the people of Darfur, although Powell noted that members of a US disaster relief team had now been granted visas and would be traveling to the region shortly.
On Tuesday, the United States made clear its displeasure with Sudan over Darfur by walking out of United Nations meeting in New York at which Khartoum was re-elected to the UN Commission on Human Rights.