Sudan official denies humanitarian catastrophe amid Paris talks with rebel group

By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer

PARIS, June 25, 2004 (AP) — Sudan’s minister for humanitarian affairs, Mohammed Yousef Abdallah, denied accounts of famine, fighting and fleeing in his country’s vast Darfur region, saying Friday that the humanitarian situation was “fully under control.”

Abdallah revealed that talks with one of two main rebel groups were set but refused to elaborate, saying that secrecy was “part of the agreement.” However, a source with knowledge of the situation said that negotiations with the Justice and Equality Movement were already underway in Paris. He did not provide details.

The Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, two groups drawn from African tribes of impoverished Darfur in western Sudan, took up arms in February 2003, saying they were fighting for a greater share of the country’s wealth and power.

However, the rebel movements also are confronting Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, who are blamed by humanitarian groups for the 16-month wave of violence that has left one million people homeless across the vast region and reportedly sent over 100,000 people into flight.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that the Darfur conflict with the attacks by Janjaweed militias “is bordering on ethnic cleansing.” He urged countries to consider committing troops to disarm the militias if the government cannot protect civilians.

Both Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell are to visit Sudan and the region next week. It will be the first trip to that country by a U.S. Secretary of State since 1978.

The description of the Darfur situation by the humanitarian affairs minister contrasted sharply with the calls of alarm by Annan and humanitarian organizations who evoke scenes of destruction, displacement, hunger and fear.

The situation “is fully under control,” Abdallah said at a news conference.

“There is no widespread disease in the area, no widespread death,” and malnutrition levels are no worse than elsewhere in the region, Abdallah said.

“According to international parameters, it (the situation) is not at a catastrophic level as some are suggesting,” he added.

Further, “the issue of human rights is well taken care of internally,” he said, referring to a commission set up to examine abuse and prosecute offenders.

The minister denied with insistence allegations that his government was using the Janjaweed in an ethnic cleansing campaign. He said that in the eyes of the government, the Janjaweed are “outlaws” but that other tribal militias were also involved in the destruction.

Abdallah reiterated that Sudanese authorities were working to disarm the militias and take control of borders to stop militias from moving into neighboring Chad.

However, “it’s not going to be done overnight,” he said, because a simultaneous disarmament of all militias is needed so that no one fears for his safety. Police are being sent into Darfur on a daily basis, he said.

“The government is doing its level best to solve the political problem and address the grass roots of the problem,” he said.

Asked about negotiations with rebels, Abdallah said that talks with the Justice and Equality Movement had taken place earlier in Chad and “there were areas of agreement and also differences.”

“We would like to thrash out our differences,” he said.

Chadian President Idriss Deby has been leading mediation efforts to end the conflict and on April 8, the warring parties signed a cease-fire agreement to allow humanitarian agencies into the area at talks in N’djamena, the Chadian capital.

Both the rebels and the government promised to observe a cease-fire to let humanitarian aid reach the region but raids by the Sudanese Arab militia have continued.