Sudan says disarmament of militia to start next week

KHARTOUM/NAIROBI, Aug 05, 2004 (dpa) — Sudanese authorities will start disarming militias in the conflict-ridden Darfur region next week, an official said Thursday.

“The disarmament will be carried out both on a voluntary basis and through searches carried out by the police,” Brigadier Jamal Al Huwaris, police commissioner in northern Darfur, told the Sudanese Media Center, a pro-government news agency.

The U.N. Security Council last week passed a resolution demanding that Khartoum disarm the Janjaweed militia within 30 days or face sanctions.

The Sudanese government has said 30 days is too short, but that it will do its best to comply with the demands.

The African Union (A.U.) is preparing to increase the number of troops it is sending to Darfur from 300 to almost 2,000.

The troops will protect the 120 ceasefire monitors in Darfur, but the A.U. is also discussing transforming the deployment into a fully fledged peacekeeping mission, with a mandate to “disarm and neutralize” the Janjaweed.

The resolution passed by the Security Council does not allow for a military intervention, but Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he is sending a military adviser to A.U. headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to help prepare the A.U. mission.

On Wednesday, tens of thousands demonstrated in Khartoum against a potential western military intervention, with militant groups vowing to make Darfur a graveyard for American soldiers.

The conflict in Darfur is 18 months old. While two Darfur rebel groups rose against the government, Khartoum allegedly armed and supported the Arab Janjaweed militia in killing, raping, looting and burning villages in Darfur.

While at least 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, the U.N. estimates 50,000 people have died as a result of the conflict.