SLA’s Minawi accuses Sudan over worsening crisis in Darfur
Jan 13, 2007 (TRIPOLI) — A former Darfur rebel leader, who last year signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government, said on Saturday the Khartoum regime was to blame for a worsening humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Minni Minawi, head of a faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM), also said the government had reneged on its promises to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias, who are widely accused of atrocities against Darfur’s black African population.
“We are suffering from a lack of security and a deterioration in the situation in Darfur,” Minawi said. “It is also obvious that the government is continuing to support the Janjaweed militias,” he said. “We have repeatedly asked the government to disarm the militias but they have not done anything.”
He was speaking in Tripoli after a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, who is involved in efforts to mediate in the Darfur conflict.
Minawi’s faction of the SLM, the largest rebel movement in Darfur, signed a peace deal with Khartoum in May 2006. A smaller SLM faction and another rebel group refused to sign, saying the deal did not meet their interests, and the civil war is now close to entering its fourth year.
Minawi is now the chief aide to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. But he hinted on Saturday that he was prepared to leave the government if the Janjaweed were allowed to continue attacks in Darfur with impunity.
“All the options are open if security is not restored and the government doesn’t respect the peace accord,” he said.
The civil war in Darfur began in February 2003. By September 2006, the United Nations said at least 200 000 people had died there from the combined effects of fighting, famine and disease.
Some aid agencies now put the death toll as high as 400 000. Two million people – nearly a third of the Darfur population – have fled their homes for internal refugee camps and a further 200 000 are in camps over the border in neighbouring Chad.
“The situation of the refugees is dramatic, particularly for those in eastern Chad,” said Minawi. “(There is) a lack of aid agencies and help was interrupted when winter arrived.”
He called for “intense efforts to contain the humanitarian crisis”.
(AFP)