Germany urges swift action to resolve crisis in Sudan’s Darfur

BERLIN, May 10 (AFP) — Germany urged the international community Monday to step up the pressure on parties to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, and urged the United Nations to take a clear lead in resolving the crisis.

Kerstin Mueller, a foreign ministry state secretary who has just come back from the disputed area, said swift action was needed to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

“International pressure must be increased” on Sudan’s government and on the Khartoum-backed militias, she told reporters here, denouncing what she called “ethnic cleansing.”

“Time is pressing, it’s a race against the clock… The UN Security Council must take a clear position,” such as by issuing a resolution.

More than a million people have been driven from their homes and at least 10,000 killed in Darfur since the outbreak of fighting in February last year.

The United Nations has accused the Arab-run Khartoum government of a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing, backing ethnic Arab militias responsible for much of the violence in Darfur.

Mueller, who said she had briefed the United Nations on her trip, said the Khartoum-backed Janjawid militia must be disarmed, international agencies be given unfettered access to the region, and a ceasefire observed.

“That must all happen within the next four or five weeks,” she added, warning that the situation would drastically deteriorate if it did not.

Violence has continued in Darfur despite a 45-day renewable ceasefire signed on April 8 between the Khartoum government and rebels.

Mueller said that since the conflict began, Germany has donated some four million euros (4.7 million dollars) in humanitarian aid for Darfur, but that the region’s needs were put at 140 million dollars.