British foreign secretary to visit Sudan

LONDON, July 22 (AFP) — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to visit Sudan next month to discuss the worsening situation in its war-torn western region of Darfur, the Foreign Office said.

The announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Tony Blair denied as “premature” a report that he had drawn up plans to send British troops to Sudan.

Straw will travel to Khartoum towards the end of August and might then travel on to Darfur itself, although this had yet to be confirmed, a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP.

“We are still at the planning stage. At the moment the plan is that he will fly to Khartoum and then, maybe, on to Darfur, but the logistics still need to be worked out,” the spokesman said, adding that the trip was expected to take place around August 25.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Straw urged the Sudanese regime to take action in Darfur.

More than 10,000 people have died in Darfur with more than a million driven from their homes since a revolt against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum broke out among indigenous ethnic minorities in February 2003.

“The Sudan army is at best passive and at worst complicit in these attacks,” he said.

“For the peacekeeping to be effective the Sudanese government has to stop the fighting. That’s why we are sending very strong messages to the Sudanese.”

According to Thursday’s Guardian newspaper, Blair has asked officials to look at all possible options for action in Sudan, including the possible despatch of the military.

However Blair told a press conference that “we’re not at the stage yet”.

“We are working very closely with the African Union and the EU and what we need to do in the short term is get the government of Sudan to take the measures necessary to control these militias and to make sure that the aid and assistance gets through,” he said.

“Now we rule nothing out, but we’re not at the stage yet (of sending troops) … because we have a strategy that we implement now.”

The Guardian said Blair was considering three options: sending British servicemen only to help with the aid effort; sending logistical support for an African Union force; deploying British troops to protect refugee camps.

On Monday, rights group Amnesty International accused the Sudanese government of being directly responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur, including the widespread rape of women.