Darfur chieftains protest U.N. Security Council 30-day ultimatum

KHARTOUM, Aug 15, 2004 (dpa) — Tribal leaders from Sudan’s Darfur region Sunday staged a sit-in strike outside the United Nations compound in Khartoum calling on the U.N. to withdraw its ultimatum.

On July 30, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Sudan’s government disarm the Janjaweed militia blamed for looting and killing in the region and improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur, or face possible sanctions within 30 days.

In an unprecedented move, 93 chieftains signed a letter representing various Darfur tribes and communities rejecting U.N. policy in resolving the 18 months of unrest in the region.

Secretary General of Darfur’s native administration Chief Abdullah Alamin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa that the chieftains support the model of the recent protocols signed between the Christian south and Moslem north.

The six protocols signed between the government and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), call for the redistribution of wealth and power sharing in Sudan, and allow southerners to vote on secession after six-and-a-half year period.

On Saturday, some 155 Rwandan troops comprising the first half of a 300-member African Union (A.U.) force to provide protection to international ceasefire monitors arrived in the war-ravaged region.

However, the A.U. force will have no mandate to protect civilians or attempt to disarm the Janjaweed. Its only job is to protect the 120 A.U. ceasefire observers on the ground.

Up to 50,000 have died from violence, starvation and disease since the inception of the 18-month conflict in Darfur. At least 1.2 million people have been forced to flee from their homes, while two million are in acute need of food and medical attention.