Darfur truce ‘a crucial first step’ in ending crisis: US
WASHINGTON, April 9 (AFP) — The cease-fire deal for the western Sudanese region of Darfur reached this week is “a crucial first step” in ending the humanitarian crisis there but must be implemented immediately, the United States said.
“This agreement is a crucial first step toward ending the atrocities and reversing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur,” said deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
“We call on the parties to implement the cease-fire immediately,” he told reporters, adding that Washington would continue to press Khartoum to stop violence being committed by pro-government militias in Darfur.
“We will continue to work with the parties and maintain pressure to ensure that the humanitarian cease-fire agreement is fully implemented and that there is unrestricted humanitarian access to all the needy populations,” he said.
The war, which erupted in February last year and is described by the United Nations as the world’s worst current humanitarian disaster, has claimed more than 10,000 lives and forced nearly 800,000 people to flee their homes.
Rebels in Darfur, a region populated by non-Arab Muslims, contend that their region has been marginalised by the Arab, Muslim authorities in Khartoum.
About 100,000 of the displaced have gone to neighboring Chad, which hosted the peace talks that led to Thursday’s cease-fire agreeement.
Under the terms of the deal, the parties agreed to cease hostilities within 72 hours, for a renewable period of 45 days.
They also agreed to disarm the government-backed militias blamed for much of the violence, free prisoners of war and guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid to the stricken region.
Ereli said the United States was particularly eager to see the assistance delivered to those in need in Darfur and added that the US Agency for International Development was preparing a disaster relief mission for the region.
He noted that since October 2003, Washington has provided nearly 54 million dollars in aid for Darfur through various UN agencies and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The vast majority of that money, 40 million dollars, has been given to the World Food Program and includes 43,000 tonnes of food aid, 25,000 tonnes of which is already in Sudan and 18,700 tonnes of which is en route.