UK says Darfur needs international security

July 18, 2007 (EL FASHER, Sudan) — Britain’s new international aid minister said the violence plaguing Darfur would only end once there was proper security in place from the international community allied with proper support from Sudan.

“We need to have security here on the ground in Darfur that requires both the international force … but also requires clear action by the government of Sudan to make sure that there is a degree of stability and order within Darfur that is sadly lacking at the moment,” Douglas Alexander said on Wednesday.

Britain’s international development minister made the comments during a tour of the Al Salam camp for displaced persons near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State.

“These people are living in genuine fear and I understand the concern that they must feel given the continuing security incidents that are taking place in the environs of this camp and more broadly across Darfur,” he added.

International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died in Darfur and 2.5 million forced out of their homes since the violence flared in 2003.

Khartoum puts the death toll at 9,000 and blames Western media for exaggerating the conflict.

Alexander arrived in Darfur on Wednesday, his first visit to Sudan.

In Al Salam, home to some 50,000 people displaced by more than four years of conflict between the Sudanese government, allied militia and ethnic minority rebels, the minister met separately with a group of women and tribal leaders.

He also met the governor of North Darfur State Osman Youssef Kibir, who told him that security in the region had improved considerably compared to three or four years ago.

The United Nations Security Council is considering a resolution sponsored by Britain and France on the deployment of a joint U.N.-African Union force to help quell violence in Sudan’s western region.

Under sustained international pressure, Sudan agreed last month to the combined U.N.-AU peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police to bolster the cash-strapped AU force of 7,000 already operating in Darfur.

Only one of the three rebel negotiating factions signed last year’s peace deal on Darfur, which has been roundly criticized by many of the region’s displaced persons who said it did not go far enough to ensure their security.

Since the May 2006 deal, the rebels have split into more than a dozen factions, complicating efforts to renew peace talks.

On Monday, the U.N. and AU invited Darfur rebel factions that did not sign the 2006 peace deal to attend talks in Tanzania next month ahead of negotiations with the government.

The rebel’s continued failure to find a united negotiating stance has slowed progress.

Last week, United States special envoy for Darfur, Andrew Natsios, accused some rebel groups of cynically obstructing international efforts to end the conflict.

(Reuters)