AU blames Khartoum for worsening Darfur situation

Dec 16, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The African Union said on Saturday the situation in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region was worsening due to the return of re-armed Janjaweed militia and Khartoum’s resolve to use military force.

Sudan faces possible sanctions by the United States and its allies if it does not allow international peacekeepers in to support AU forces in Darfur where nearly four years of fighting have killed more than 200,000 people.

“The security situation in Darfur is fast deteriorating mainly because of the re-emergence of Janjaweed militias,” said an AU communique issued at the end of a meeting on Darfur.

“(They) seem to have been supplied and rearmed and have been carrying out nefarious activities with impunity in parts of Darfur, particularly in areas controlled by the government of Sudan.”

The statement added that another cause for the decline was Khartoum’s insistence on a military option to quell the conflict.

In a news conference on Saturday, Sudanese presidential advisor Majzoub al-Khalifa dismissed the AU communique, saying Sudan was only engaged in defensive operations.

“There is no offensive movement of the government … what is there is a defensive operation … to protect the civilians, to protect the internally displaced person camps and to protect borders,” Majzoub said.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the central government of marginalising the arid area. Khartoum mobilised tribal militias to quell the revolt. Those militias now stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage.

The United Nations has been trying without much success to persuade the Sudanese government to accept the deployment of 22,500 U.N. troops and police to form part of a “hybrid” force with the AU in Darfur.

The African Union currently has some 7,000 troops in the vast desert region but its force is widely viewed as lacking funds, manpower and equipment to maintain security.

The AU also condemned attacks by the National Redemption Front (NRF) in Darfur. The rebel faction is comprised of groups that rejected a peace deal with the government signed in May.

“The meeting expressed deep concern on the prevailing situation in El Fasher, El Geneina, Kutum and Merllit characterised by harassment, attacks and killings of innocent civilians including IDPs (internally displace people),” the AU communique said.

It deplored attacks on AU personnel including the abduction of a military officer on Dec. 10 in El Fasher.

(Reuters)