Hostile groups behind protests on “Darfur Day” – Khartoum
Sept 18, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Khartoum said on Monday that “groups hostile to Sudan” had been behind the demonstrations in New York, London and other Western cities to protest the violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
“The demonstrations in some American and European cities on Sunday, which was called ‘the world day for Darfur’, was a campaign to draw the world’s attention to the so-called ‘ humanitarian crisis ‘ in Darfur,” said the Sudanese Foreign Ministry in a statement.
It said that “the groups hostile to Sudan, by organizing the demonstrations, were attempting to force the Sudanese government to accept an international force in Darfur and to prove that the African Union (AU) could not bear its responsibility.”
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when anti- government forces accused the government of marginalizing the region and took up arms against it.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and up to 2.5 million others displaced because of it.
Denying the Darfur situation was deteriorating, the statement accused the “hostile groups” of using the public media as a tool to mislead the public opinion.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reiterated the government’s commitment to the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement ( DPA) which was signed by the government and some rebel factions in May but refused by other rebel leaders.
“The international community should work with the Sudanese government and the signatories of the DPA in order to urgently and effectively implement the agreement,” the statement added.
The Sudanese government has rejected a recent UN resolution, which calls for the deployment of international peacekeepers in Darfur to replace the 7,800-strong AU force monitoring a fragile cease-fire in the region.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha reiterated on Monday Sudan’s refusal of deploying international peacekeepers in Darfur, just ahead of a summit of the AU on this issue, which is to be held on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York.
Leaders of the 15 member states of the AU Peace and Security Council are to debate at the summit the fate of the 7,800-strong African troops in Darfur, whose mandate will expire on Sept. 30.
Terming the AU’s peacekeeping mission in Darfur as the pan- African body’s first test to strengthen the security inside the continent, Taha called on the African leaders to hold their responsibilities to prove the African body’s ability in dealing with its own problems.
(Xinhua/ST)