UN’s Annan urges Khartoum to contain Janjawid militia
By Simon Apiku
EL-FESHIR, Sudan, July 1 (AFP) — UN chief Kofi Annan urged the Khartoum government to bring under control the Janjawid militia at the centre of the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Darfur, during a visit to the region.
“The government should be containing the Janjawid and not fighting side by side with them,” he said during talks with Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein and North Darfur state Governor Mohammed Osman Kibir.
“The UN is prepared to work with you on the humanitarian front to ensure that we do not have a humanitarian disaster,” Annan said at the meeting, which was open to journalists accompanying the secretary general.
The UN chief flew in to El-Feshir, the main town in North Darfur, from Khartoum, a day after a similar mission on the ground by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The Khartoum government has the responsibility “to ensure law and order” and protect its citizens, he said.
Kibir tried to give assurances that government forces would confront the militias and denied allegations that Khartoum was in cohorts with the Arab fighters.
“We are preparing ourselves to pursue them,” he said. “The government has nothing to do with the Janjawid … The government is not fighting side by side. They have a separate agenda.”
Annan was to visit Tawila camp for displaced persons and travel on later Thursday to neighbouring Chad where some 100,000 have fled the fighting in Darfur, a region the size of France.
The world must move quickly to avoid a repeat of the Rwandan genocide in Sudan’s western Darfur region, Chadian President Idriss Deby warned on Wednesday.
“The international community has the tragedy in Rwanda on its conscience. It has to act rapidly, not only to take in the refugees but also to create conditions for stability in Darfur,” he said.
Annan was to return to Khartoum on Friday for talks with President Omar al-Beshir.
At least 10,000 people have been killed in Darfur since fighting broke out in the western region in February 2003, when black African rebel groups rose up against the government in Khartoum.
The government’s response was to give the Janjawid a free rein in cracking down on the rebels.
Another one million people have been displaced. The UN says refugees are living in dire conditions, many afraid to return home for fear that they will be killed by the pro-government Janjawid.
The UN children’s fund (UNICEF) has said between 700,000 and 800,000 people are faced with malnutrition and sickness, including 500,000 children.
After Powell visited Darfur and following a stern warning for Khartoum to take “action now”, the Sudanese government announced a series of steps to ease the situation.
Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said the government would send more government forces to provide security, ease restrictions on humanitarian groups and speed up negotiations with rebel groups.
“We will do our best to bring more police and more armed forces to that area. We will combat any militia or Janjawid to protect civilians,” the minister said.
“We’re going to enhance the speed of political negotiations. Hopefully in a very short time we will reach agreement with the rebels,” he said.
The United States on Wednesday proposed a UN Security Council resolution that would slap an arms and travel embargo on the Janjawid. The draft, obtained by AFP, does not spell out sanctions against Khartoum.
Instead, it leaves the way open for the council, within 30 days of approving the measure, to decide whether sanctions should be placed on “any other individuals or groups responsible for the commission of atrocities in Darfur.”