Swedish premier urges U.N. action on Sudan

STOCKHOLM, July 19, 2004 (dpa) — Prime Minister Goran Persson Monday welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent appointment of a special adviser on the prevention of genocide and urged U.N. action on Sudan.

In open letters to Annan and special adviser Juan Méndez, the Swedish premier highlighted his concern about the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Persson noted that Sweden had tried to win support from other members of the European Union to link a normalisation of EU-relations with Sudan to “immediate and verifiable progress in Darfur, in particular through disarmament of the militia”.

Persson also underlined that those guilty of violating “human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur” should be brought to justice.

Sweden was committed to support the U.N. in these efforts, Persson said.

Earlier Monday, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International published a report that said rape was used as a “weapon of war” by Janjaweed militiamen in the southwestern Sudanese province.

Last January, Stockholm hosted a conference on genocide prevention. Research presented at the Stockholm International Forum named Sudan as a potential flashpoint for genocide.