UN envoy warns Sudan, Darfur rebels over safety of refugees

ABUJA, Oct 24 (AFP) — The United Nations’ senior envoy to Sudan warned delegates at the Darfur peace talks here Sunday that the world body would not tolerate any failure on their part to protect civilians or humanitarian aid.

women hold their malnourished children.

Jan Pronk, special representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, came to the Abuja conference to brief government and rebel representatives on the crisis triggered by the 20-month-old conflict in the western region.

“The Darfur conflict is not only a grave conflict for the government and the people of Sudan but also for the world as a whole,” he told the African Union-sponsored talks on the eve of the start of formal peace negotiations.

“You have to help resolve the conflict because it’s not a localised conflict anymore. It’s a global problem. This is a major problem for Darfur, for Sudan, for Africa and for the world,” he said.

“We cannot afford for such conflicts to continue and be replicated in other parts of the region or Africa,” he warned delegates.

“This is why the government of Sudan and the (rebel) movements must cooperate with the African Union and the United Nations in restoring peace to Darfur,” he said, before the talks went behind closed doors.

“Don’t say that ‘one party is not complying and so we will not comply’, because the United Nations will deal with any erring party,” he said, recalling two recent UN Security Council resolutions demanding protection for civilians.

Pronk said Resolution 1553 and 1554 represented “shared obligations” for the warring parties to allow relief convoys unfettered access to Darfur, to cooperate with the African Union peace process and to respect their ceasefire commitments.

“There may be difficulty in complying with all these things, but it’s mandatory,” he said, adding that the Security Council — which has threatened Sudan with economic sanctions — will meet on the issue next month.

The United Nations estimates that 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes during the conflict and that 70,000 civilians have been killed since two rebel movements launched an uprising in the province of Darfur.

Khartoum responded by unleashing a brutal Arab militia to attack the black African tribes suspected of supporting the rebellion, triggering what the United Nations has described as the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster”.

The warring parties have had representatives in the Nigerian capital since Friday, preparing for a full peace conference from Monday.

They are expected to quickly sign an agreement to stabilise the humanitarian situation, but a full political settlement may prove harder to achieve. The talks are slated to last at least three weeks.