Bush says Sudan must halt Arab militia violence

DETROIT, United States, July 23 (AFP) — US President George W. Bush demanded that Sudan halt violence by Arab militias in the country’s troubled western of Darfur and ensure that aid can reach the area.

“We made our position very clear to the Sudanese government: They must stop Janjaweed violence, they must provide access to humanitarian relief for the people who suffer,” he said in a speech to a black organization here.

In a speech to the National Urban League, Bush said the United States was working with the United Nations and the African Union “to bring relief to the suffering people in that region.”

His comments came a day after Washington presented a draft UN Security Council resolution authorizing sanctions on Sudan if it fails to prosecute leaders of the pro-government Janjaweed groups accused of widespread atrocities in Darfur.

Later Thursday, the US Congress unanimously passed a non-binding resolution qualifying the atrocities committed in Darfur as “genocide” and calling on the White House to lead international efforts to intervene in the region.

More than 10,000 people have died and over a million have been displaced since rebel groups rose up against Khartoum in February 2003, claiming that the mainly black African region has been ignored by the Arab government.

The uprising prompting a bloody crackdown by Sudanese troops and the pro-government Janjaweed, who have carried out what aid and rights groups have called a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing.