Bush calls on Sudan to stop ‘atrocities’ in Darfur

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush demanded on Wednesday Sudan stop “atrocities” by Arab militias driving black Africans out of western Sudan as U.S. officials played down the idea of outside armed intervention.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said international military action may be needed to halt what aid workers have called “ethnic cleansing” in Sudan’s western Darfur region, drawing an immediate rejection from Khartoum.

U.S. officials made clear that their emphasis was on diplomatic efforts to end what is widely acknowledged to be a humanitarian crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, many into neighboring Chad.

“The Sudanese government must immediately stop local militias from committing atrocities against the local population and must provide unrestricted access to humanitarian aid agencies,” Bush said in a written statement.

“The government of Sudan must not remain complicit in the brutalization of Darfur,” he added.

In a veiled threat, Bush suggested Washington would not normalize relations with Khartoum until it had ended the Darfur crisis and signed a peace deal with southern rebels in a separate conflict that has killed some 2 million people.

A key impediment to normalizing relations is Sudan’s presence on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism — a status that bans U.S. arms-related exports and sales, bars most U.S. economic aid and requires Washington to oppose loans by the World Bank and other international financial institutions.

Negotiations between the Islamist government in Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement which represents rebels in the mostly Christian and animist south appear to be drawing closer to a peace agreement.

An SPLA/M official said the two sides could resolve their dispute within 72 hours, clearing the way to a peace deal.

“Achieving peace, and reaching a just and comprehensive agreement, must be an urgent priority for both sides,” Bush said in his statement, which called the 20-year civil war “one of the worst humanitarian tragedies of our time.”

Asked about Annan’s suggestion that an outside military force may be needed in Darfur, State Department Adam Ereli said: “At this point our focus is on diplomatic efforts.”

“We’re … not really actively considering alternatives at this point,” he added.