French FM to Darfur next week as part of Africa trip
PARIS, July 21 (AFP) — French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier announced Wednesday that he would travel on July 27 to Sudan’s strife-torn western Darfur region, where more than a year of fighting has left thousands dead.
The French minister told a joint press conference after talks with his visiting Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Ismail that he would visit the region near al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
Barnier will also visit Chad, Senegal and South Africa during his trip.
The Darfur region is in the throes of what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with a major famine looming and humanitarian relief operations hampered by rains.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Darfur since rebel groups rose up in February 2003, prompting a heavy-handed response from Sudanese forces and government-sponsored Arab militia.
UN officials say the Arab Janjaweed militias have carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Africans. More than a million people have been displaced in the conflict.
“We are going through a serious time right now with an intensification of the humanitarian risks at the start of the rainy season, and the risk of epidemics and access problems that go along with that,” Barnier said.
The international community has called upon the government in Khartoum to disarm the Janjaweed and allow humanitarian aid groups to reach those displaced by the fighting.
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir vowed to do just that after a visit to Sudan last month by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, but clashes have continued.
Powell said Tuesday that the international community was “completely dissatisfied” with the security situation in Darfur.