Impatient US looks for Sudan to meet vow to disarm Darfur militias

WASHINGTON, June 21 (AFP) — The United States said it expected Sudan to live up to President Omar al-Beshir’s weekend pledge to rein in pro-Khartoum Arab militias in the strife-torn western region of Darfur.

The State Department, which last week said Washington was considering sanctions against Sudanese officials unless the so-called Janjawid militias were neutralized, said it “noted” Beshir’s Saturday vows to respect an April ceasefire in Darfur and to act against the groups.

But spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States would wait to see whether Khartoum, in fact, moves against the militias and pointedly stressed that the truce was more than two months old already.

“Certainly the United States would very much welcome the government taking action, finally, in this region to stop the attacks and to really abide by the cease-fire that was signed on April 8th,” he said.

“We note (Beshir’s) statements and we hope they’re carried out.”

He said the two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Movement for Justice and Equality, should also respect the ceasefire.

Faced with the threat of international sanctions, Beshir vowed to rein in the militias and to stop fighting from spilling over into neighboring Chad. He ordered the government to reinforce security and clamp down on the rebels, the Janjawid and other armed groups by disarming them and taking them to court.

Arab militias and government troops have been blamed for a wave of killings of indigenous minority groups in Darfur since rebels rose up in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of discrimination and neglect.

The government’s response was to give the militias free rein in cracking down on the rebels. Khartoum’s proxy militia has been accused of conducting a scorched earth campaign and ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

Khartoum has been accused of hampering essential humanitarian access to the region.

Clashes between the Sudanese army and the rebels in Darfur have killed at least 10,000 people and forced more than a million from their homes, according to UN estimates.