US deeply concerned over Darfur
Dec 20, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region remains an issue of “deep concern” to the United States following a visit to Khartoum last week by a top US envoy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
Rice called again on Sudan to drop its objections to deployment of a hybrid African-UN peacekeeping force to halt resurgent violence against civilians in the war-torn region.
“It is extremely important (to deploy) a robust peacekeeping force that can actually help to end the violence and bring relief to the many innocent men, women and children who are suffering in Sudan,” Rice said.
“This is an issue of deep concern to the United States and deep concern to the president of the United States,” Rice said following a meeting with Andrew Natsios, President George W. Bush’s personal envoy to Sudan.
Natsios met with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and other leaders in Khartoum last week but failed to gain their agreement to comply with a deal brokered last month by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to deploy some 20,000 UN-led peacekeepers to Darfur.
With violence against civilians again on the rise in Darfur, largely blamed on Arab militia allied to Beshir’s government, US officials last week warned that tougher measures — including enforcement of a no-fly zone over the region — could be taken.
Rice said Natsios had “moved the ball forward” by reassuring Khartoum, via a statement issued Tuesday by the current president of the UN Security Council, that Washington and its partners remained committed to the peacekeeping plan rather than coercive options.
“Now we expect the government of Khartoum to respond positively to that action in the UN,” Rice said.
The UN estimates that more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been displaced in Darfur since early 2003 when the region’s ethnic African population revolted against the Arab-led government in Khartoum.
The hybrid peacekeeping force would replace an underfunded 7,000-strong African Union mission which has failed to end the violence.
Beshir has consistently rejected any UN troop presence in Darfur, accusing the West of seeking to partition his country.
(AFP)