Annan: Chaos looms in western Darfur as violence increases
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 7, 2004 (AP) — Chaos is looming in Sudan’s western Darfur region as violence increases, order collapses, and the number of desperate people in need of humanitarian aid reaches nearly 2.3 million, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the U.N. Security Council.
The optimism generated by an agreement between the government and two rebel groups on humanitarian and security issues has been overshadowed by the deteriorating security situation in recent weeks, Annan said Monday.
The 15-page report details daily attacks, village burnings, rapes, hijackings of relief goods, theft of livestock, the forced movement of thousands of displaced people, and numerous deaths.
“In Darfur, chaos is looming as order is collapsing,” Annan warned.
The violence reached a high point on Nov. 22 when the rebel Sudan Liberation Army attacked the town of Tawila in North Darfur and took control of all police posts within a few hours. The Sudanese army retaliated, reportedly using bomber planes, and forced the SLA to withdraw, but fighting continued in the area for two days causing extensive casualties, the report said.
“There is a danger that violence may continue to escalate,” Annan warned, saying the SLA had “aggressively violated” a Nov. 9 accord calling for an end to hostilities and was increasing its attacks against the police.
If the government fails to show restraint in the face of provocation by the SLA, “insecurity could worsen substantially,” he said.
The Sudanese government has denied any air attacks and the SLA denied attacking Tawila, which Annan speculated could mean that both side were not in control of their field commanders on the ground.
In addition, he said, “there has been a continued breakdown in law and order, as banditry, looting of livestock and abductions continued” and humanitarian workers and convoys came under increasing attack.
The resulting insecurity has driven up the price of local goods, which is forcing more people who have remained in their homes to seek humanitarian relief from international agencies, Annan said.
As of Nov. 1, the number of people affected by the conflict and in need of relief had risen by 250,000 to close to 2.3 million, more than one-third of the 6 million people estimated to have been in Darfur before fighting began in February 2003, he said.
The latest increase was mainly due to the increasingly vulnerable local population, Annan warned, and “if the security situation does not improve, this upward trend could continue until the end of the year and beyond.”
According to a report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Darfur is also facing a fourth consecutive meager harvest, with conditions similar to those preceding the 1984 famine, he said.
“The collapse of the grain market illustrates that a large number of farmers have not been able to plant, nor do they have any seed at stock,” he said. “Equally worrying is that food prices are 60 percent above normal levels which could result in a further increase in humanitarian needs.”
Annan demanded that the rebels and the government abide by the Nov. 9 accords and halt all hostile military activities.
The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003 when the SLA and allied Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.
The government responded with a counterinsurgency campaign in which the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, has committed wide-scale abuses against the African population. Over 70,000 people have died.
A Security Council resolution adopted in September demanded that the Janjaweed be disarmed and its leaders brought to justice.
But Annan’s report said the government has not presented a plan to collect weapons and has not given any indication that Janjaweed leaders have been arrested.
At a Nov. 25-26 meeting in Chad to discuss the latest violence, the African Union which has deployed peacekeepers in Darfur reported approximately 40 cease-fire violations by both sides since mid-August, culminating in the fighting in Tawila.
It criticized both sides and demanded that the government submit plans and timelines to neutralize the Janjaweed and other armed militias and that the two rebel groups submit information on the locations of their forces within the next few weeks.
The African Union warned that failure to do so would oblige it to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council, the report said. The council has raised the possibility of