Sudan will not disarm militias while rebellion rages: foreign minister

CAIRO, May 14 (AFP) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said Friday pro-government militias in strife-torn Darfur region would not be disarmed as long as weapons remained in the hands of rebel forces.

In an interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper, Ismail repeated Khartoum’s denials that it was supporting the Arab tribal militias blamed for alleged ethnic cleansing, rape and massive human rights abuses.

“Those who want us to interrupt the actions of the militias now must understand that this is not possible,” he was quoted as saying.

“They forget that there is a rebellion going on and (the rebels) carry arms and threaten the tribes and it is possible that acts of revenge might be committed.”

He said the disarmament of all sides in western Darfur region was a global problem and could not be undertaken by the Sudanese government alone.

The Darfur crisis started in the aftermath of a rebellion launched in the region in February 2003.

Acting UN human rights chief Bertrand Ramcharan last week accused the Sudanese government of conducting a “reign of terror” and “repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity” by supporting militia and nomads who have been driving indigenous non-Arab minorities out of the region.

An estimated one million people have been displaced inside the country, and a UN report has said the government was deliberately starving some of them. More than 100,000 more have fled across the border into Chad.

The government in Sudan, Africa’s largest nation, is dominated by Arabs but the country is also home to large non-Arab minorities, including the Fur, Massalit and Zaghawa in Darfur.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir to find a political solution to fighting, his spokesman said Thursday.

In a letter to Beshir, the UN chief “emphasized the importance of negotiating a political settlement to the Darfur crisis,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.