Sudan denies U.S. charge of catastrophe in Darfur

PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) – A Sudanese government minister on Friday hit back at U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for saying the situation in its violent Darfur region was catastrophic.

Powell made his comment before a visit next week to Darfur, where Washington and rights groups say militias have killed, raped, looted and burned villages, and left tens of thousands of people homeless and vulnerable to famine.

U.N. and humanitarian agencies have called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

But Humanitarian Affairs Minister Mohamed Yousif Abdalla told a news conference in Paris: “The situation, according to international parameters, is not at a catastrophic level — as some are suggesting.”

“According to international parameters, the situation is under control,” said Abdalla, in the French capital for peace talks. He gave no details of the talks.

While the United States has hailed a peace accord between Khartoum and rebels in the South in a separate conflict, it says militias continue to carry out atrocities in Darfur.

Government-backed Arab militias have driven more than 1 million black Africans from their homes in Darfur, a western region which borders Chad.

The U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday at least 300,000 people driven from their homes could go without food this month because of insecurity and lack of funds.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to visit Darfur next week, as well as Powell, to spotlight the crisis and meet government officials in Khartoum.

“The situation is so dire that if we were able to do everything we wanted to do tomorrow there would still be a large loss of life because of the deprivations that people are under,” Powell said on Thursday. “This is a catastrophe.”

Rights group Physicians for Human Rights said this week it believed a “genocidal process” was unfolding in Darfur.

Abdalla denied there had been any genocide and said the government wanted to end the violence there. He outlined the government’s plans to disarm the Arab militia groups, known locally as Janjaweed.

Abdalla said police were being sent first to the region and the army would round up weapons on the border, which he said were being brought into the country.

Efforts would then start to collect weapons to disarm all forces simultaneously except the police and army, he said.

“We have started sending the police force. It will work until we are satisfied that the situation is under control and those carrying arms are neutralised,” he said.