Sudan rejects advice from Germany on Darfur crisis

KHARTOUM/CAIRO, July 12, 2004 (dpa) — The Sudanese government said Monday it would not take any advice from Germany about the crisis in Darfur when German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer meets with government officials during his current visit to the country.

“We are not prepared to listen to any advice from Germany,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said late Sunday in Khartoum.

Fischer had arrived in the country Sunday night to urge the government to keep promises to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias which are blamed for a campaign of violence against Darfur’s black villagers which has left thousands dead and several 100,000 displaced.

The Sudanese government which discussed the crisis with United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier this month insisted they had received enough advice.

Khartoum had now worked out a programme with the United Nations in Darfur which they would implement, Ismail said.

Ismail said his government would be grateful for Fischer’s visit if it was intended to offer humanitarian help without pressure or conceit.

However, Fischer should not even consider justifying Berlin’s stance on Sudan to the government in Khartoum.

Germany has been working to reach agreement on a critical resolution on Darfur at the United Nations security council.

During a visit by Annan in Sudan earlier this month Sudanese Persident Omar al-Bashir had pledged to begin the immediate disarmament of the Janjaweed militias and other armed groups in the crisis region.

HOwever, observers in Khartoum have commented the government might not be able to control the large area with the number of soldiers it intends to deploy.

Critics have accused the government of having supported the militias in the past.