Security worsening in south Sudan, says relief official
KHARTOUM, July 25, 2004 (dpa) — The security situation in southern Sudan has worsened following days of sporadic shooting by pro-government militias in the town of Malakal, the capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile province, reports said Sunday.
Recent attacks by pro-government militias had killed at least a dozen people in and around the town, according to a source with a local non-government organization in Malakal who spoke on condition of anonymity.
No immediate comments have been received from hospital authorities in Malakal town.
The Upper Nile Relief and Development Coordinator at the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), Isaac Nyiding Obwonyo, however confirmed that the security situation in and around the town was lamentable, with no freedom of movement and killings occurring frequently everywhere in the province.
Villagers were being killed as they tried to to search for food, Obwonyo said, adding that pro-government militias supported by the Sudanese army had razed more than 30 villages around Malakal.
Obwonyo estimated that about 14,000 villagers have been displaced in Malakal by the recent clashes, and these internally displaced persons were in urgent need of food, health supplies, shelter as well as clean water.
Despite the provision of some relief items by the World Food Programme, the situation in Malakal is “horrible”, Obwonyo said, and requires further intervention from the humanitarian organizations.
Tensions between the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) and southern Sudanese government-backed militias and the army erupted following the collapse of peace talks early this month in Naivasha, Kenya.
Meanwhile, more than 5,000 Sudanese policemen have been deployed in the strife-ridden western Darfur region and more than 90,000 refugees have returned to their homes, according to a report issued Sunday by the Sudanese Information Ministry.
The report, which was published on the Sudanese News Agency, said 17 militiamen from both the government-linked Moslem militia and rebels from black African tribes have been tried and sentenced. One hundred outlaws were reported arrested.
The report claims the government has facilitated delivery of 46,000 tonnes of food and 10 million dollars worth of medical assistance to the region.
“The aid kept flowing but rebel militias obstructed the trucks. In one week, four violations took place, resulting in nine civilian casualties and several or policemen,” the report said.
The report reiterated the Sudanese government’s willingness to return to the negotiating table to settle the conflict in Darfur, and blamed collapse of talks last week in Addis Ababa on pressure put on rebel negotiators by the U.S. and Britain.
Earlier, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail criticized U.S. President George W. Bush of trying to exploit the crisis in Darfur to win black voters for his re-election.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted unanimously for resolutions urging U.S. leaders and the international community to begin “calling the atrocities being committed in Darfur by their rightful name: genocide”.
Sudanese authorities have rejected the claims, saying they were biased, unfair and untrue.
Government-linked Janjaweed Arab militia are fighting against black African tribes in Darfur in western Sudan.
It has been estimated that 30,000 Darfur civilians have been killed and more than 130,000 refugees have sought sanctuary in neighbouring Chad. About 1 million Darfur residents fleeing the violence are believed to have remained in Sudan.