Sudan donors’ conference in planning, says Germany

BERLIN, May 21 (AFP) — The international community is preparing a donors’ conference on Sudan to try to relieve the crisis in the country’s war-wracked Darfur region, the German government said Friday.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman said the United Nations, European Union and United States hoped to hold the gathering on June 1.

“We must prevent a situation where all eyes are focused on other conflicts and Africa is once again forgotten,” Germany’s Overseas Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told ARD public television.

Meanwhile, the government said it was increasing its aid for Darfur by one million to five million euros (six million dollars).

More than a year of fighting has left thousands dead in Darfur, near Chad, and uprooted a million people from their homes, according to UN figures.

The Khartoum government has been widely accused of conducting a policy of “ethnic cleansing” against the black, non-Arab people and targeting civilians in its response to a rebellion by local militias.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman said humanitarian aid must be shipped in before the start of the rainy season. She urged Sudan government to fulfil a promise to ease access to the region.

“There are plans for a donors’ conference on Darfur on June 1,” she said, saying it was one of several ways in which the international community wanted to come to its help.

Others were to keep the UN Security Council briefed on the situation — it will discuss the crisis with non-governmental organisations Monday — and to send an observation mission to Darfur, she added.

The spokeswoman said the European Union wanted to send a mission there to underline to Khartoum that the international community was keeping an eye on the situation.