Darfur Janjaweed militia supported by Sudan govt- US envoy
April 16, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The janjaweed militia that is accused of widespread atrocities in Darfur is actively supported by the Sudanese government, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Monday.
His remark contradicts Sudanese government policy, which has always denied backing the janjaweed, despite accusations that it does so from the U.N. and the African Union.
Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Sudan, Negroponte told reporters that the government must clamp down on the janjaweed, a pro-government militia that the International Criminal Court has blamed for numerous cases of killing, rape, arson and looting in the western Sudanese region that has been wracked by rebellion and counter-insurgency for the past four years.
“The government of Sudan must disarm the janjaweed, the Arab militias that we all know could not exist without the Sudanese government’s active support,” Negroponte said.
He added that the rebel forces that didn’t sign the Darfur Peace Agreement of May last year “must stop their attacks, put down their arms and come to the negotiating table.”
Negroponte said there were now more refugees – people driven from their homes by the conflict – in Darfur than when the peace accord was signed. And he accused the government of hindering international efforts to help them.
“The denial of visas, the harassment of aid workers and other measures have created the impression that the government of Sudan is engaged in a deliberate campaign of intimidation,” Negroponte told reporters. “When it comes to humanitarian access, the government of Sudan’s record is not encouraging.”
Negroponte said his talks with President Omar al-Bashir and other officials had been positive, but Washington’s relations with Sudan would improve only when Khartoum grants non-governmental organizations better access to Darfur and accepts the U.N.’s plans to deploy large numbers of peacekeepers there.
Sudan has complained that Washington didn’t meet its expectations of better relations after it made peace with the southern Sudanese rebels in 2005.
Negroponte spoke before heading to Chad for the next leg of a regional tour that will also take him to Libya, where he’s also expected to push for the U.N. plan on Darfur.
His press conference came shortly after the official Saudi Press Agency reported that al-Bashir had called the king of Saudi Arabia to announce he has signed a joint agreement with the U.N. and the African Union that defines their respective roles in Darfur.
The U.N. didn’t immediately confirm the report, and Negroponte declined to comment on it.
The U.S. is holding off on imposing sanctions against Sudan to allow time for the government to decide to accept the U.N. plan, under which a joint force of 22,000 U.N. and African Union peacekeepers would be deployed in Darfur.
It’s widely recognized that the force of 7,000 A.U. peacekeepers is inadequate to stop the fighting in a region. About 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur and are living in poorly protected camps in the province and eastern Chad.
But al-Bashir has rejected the deployment of U.N. troops, saying they would violate Sudan’s sovereignty. Many believe he fears the U.N. force would arrest Sudanese officials suspected of war crimes in Darfur.
Until now, Sudan has said it will accept only a small number of U.N. security forces and equipment to support the A.U. mission.
(AP)