Sudan rejects Darfur fighting accusations

August 29, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan has rejected allegations that it is still involved in fighting in Darfur after it was accused of violating a UN arms embargo in the war-ravaged western region.

“These accusations are false and founded on made-up information from organisations and agencies with a political agenda,” foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq told AFP late Tuesday.

“The government hasn’t had any military activities recently and the Sudanese army has no activities in Darfur,” he said.

London-based rights group Amnesty International last week said Sudan was continuing to defy a UN arms embargo, citing as evidence photographs of military equipment being delivered in July to Al-Geneina airport in Darfur.

Sadiq’s declaration also came after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday voiced deep concern about the recent escalation in violence in Darfur.

“I am deeply concerned about the recent escalation in violence in Darfur that has caused the death of hundreds of people in the last few weeks alone,” he said.

Recent attacks, including the repeated bombardment of villages in southern Sudan, were “simply unacceptable,” Ban said, announcing a visit to Darfur next week.

Sadiq insisted that Khartoum was seeking stability in Darfur “the proof of which is that (the government) spared no effort to convince armed movements to reject violence.”

According to the United Nations, more than 200,000 people have died and more than two million have been displaced by four years of conflict in Darfur.

(AFP)