Sudan blames West for Darfur conflict
CAIRO, June 10 (AFP) — Senior Sudanese officials accused the West of stirring the armed conflict in the Darfur region and exaggerating the crisis to pressure Khartoum amid final negotiations for peace in southern Sudan.
Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Foreign Minister Mostafa Osman Ismail made their remarks during a visit to Cairo while, at the G8 summit in Georgia, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice largely blamed Khartoum for the trouble.
Taha told a gathering of Egyptian and Sudanese intellectuals and politicians in the Egyptian capital that the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur was “fabricated” by the international community, and in particular, by the West.
The same parties that were responsible for creating war in the southern Sudan decades ago, are the ones responsible for the conflict in Darfur, said the Sudanese vice president.
He did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
At a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ismail pointed an accusing finger at unnamed groups for instigating the conflict in Darfur.
“There are pressure groups, some of them used to operate in the south and now they are becoming active in Darfur,” Ismail told reporters.
“These groups want trouble,” he charged, adding that they wanted to create a similar situation in Darfur as in the south.
He appeared to be referring to western non-government organizations and evangelical groups which Sudan has in the past accused of siding with the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
“We are not saying that there is no problem in Darfur,” Ismail went on, insisting that the problem was not of the same magnitude presented by the international media.
Taha called the media reports an “unjustified” campaign against his country, and his foreign minister denied that what was happening in Darfur amounted to “genocide or ethnic cleansing”, as some have described the crisis.
Both allege the west is applying pressure while the Sudanese government and the SPLA make their last push toward ending their 20-year civil war at negotiations in Kenya.
Washington has complained that the two sides missed a December deadline for a final peace settlement.
Citing an example of such pressure, Taha complained that it was holding 407 million euros (482 million dollars) in development funds for the Sudanese government.
Taha claimed the government wanted to use the funds for projects in Darfur, but the European Union has refused to release the funds unless Khartoum resolves the conflict in the south.
“They hold your money and tell you to heal myself,” Taha snapped.
Britain, days after releasing extra aid to Sudan’s crisis-stricken western Darfur region, meanwhile issued a sharp reminder to Khartoum on Wednesday that it must rein in marauding Arab militias and ensure help reaches the needy in Darfur.
An estimated 10,000 people have died since rebels complaining of government neglect of their impoverished region launched an uprising in Darfur in February 2003 and were met with fierce retaliation by government and Janjawid forces.
An estimated one million people have been displaced in Darfur and 130,000 others have fled across the border into Chad. UN agencies have described the Darfur crisis as the world’s biggest current humanitarian problem.
In Brussels, the European Union has allocated 12 million euros (14.5 million dollars) to help fund an African Union observer mission, which is aimed at monitoring a shaky ceasefire between the government and the Darfur rebels.
The African Union at the end of May called for European funds to help their mission, which set up Wednesday in the northern part of Darfur.