Sudan guilty of ethnic cleansing, U.S. tells Darfur probe

NAIROBI, April 7, 2004 (dpa) — A high-ranking U.S. representative Wednesday sharply criticized Sudan’s government for its role in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

“Serious violence and ethnic cleansing is going on in Darfur”, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Charles Snyder told a press conference in Nairobi.

Earlier in the day the United Nations said it had launched an investigation into human rights abuses by government-backed Arab militias in Darfur.

Meanwhile, peace talks between Khartoum and the southern rebels SPLA, who have fought the government for 21 years, were nearing a conclusion, according to Snyder.

Snyder said peaceful resolutions to both conflicts in Africa’s largest country was dependent on political will.

Speaking in Geneva, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the international community must be ready to take swift and appropriate action against Sudan, if the Khartoum government denies aid workers access to Darfur.

“By action in such situations I mean a continuum of steps, which may include military action,” said Annan

The U.N. human rights group plans to cross into Darfur from Chad, if Sudanese authorities permit them.

So far, aid workers have been unable to reach the hundreds of thousands of displaced people because Sudanese authorities have denied them entry into Darfur.

In Chad’s capital N’Djamena, representatives of the rebel groups in Darfur and the government in Khartoum had a brief meeting for the first time on Tuesday, and direct talks are expected to follow.

Since fighting started, about 600,000 people have been displaced and more than 100,000 have crossed the border into Chad.

While talks are just starting about the western region, peace negotiations hoped to put a stop to the long civil war in southern Sudan are reportedly coming to a close.

“The parties have assured me they can complete this discussion by Saturday or Sunday”, Snyder told reporters the press late on Wednesday, as he returned back from ongoing peace talks in the Kenyan town Naivasha.

The U.S. administration has put heavy pressure on the representatives of the Khartoum government and the southern rebels SPLA to reach a peace agreement for the war-torn South Sudan, where a civil war has raged for 21 years, and directly and indirectly has claimed two million lives.

During the past month talks have focused on the three contested areas of Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile in central Sudan.

All three states belong to the North, according to a 1956 administrative border, but are all partly controlled by the southern rebel movement.

Abyei, believed to be very rich in oil, has been the main sticking point. But this, along with the issue of power sharing, are now close to being solved, said Snyder.

“They are now dealing with things like percentages of power sharing in an interim administration. I do believe they can finish this”, he added.

The two sides agreed during earlier talks that Sudan,s Christian and animist south can decide on secession from the Islamic government in Khartoum after a six-year interim period.

Also, the peace plan lays out that oil revenues are to be shared equally.

Said Snyder: “If negotiations for the south are wrapped up by Saturday, it’s very encouraging for the situation in Darfur”.