Libya warns against non-African military deployment in Darfur

TRIPOLI, July 26 (AFP) — Libya warned that a non-African military deployment in Darfur to combat the humanitarian crisis in the strife-torn region of western Sudan could provoke an “explosive” situation.

The crisis in Darfur is “very dangerous”, Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Mohammed Shalgham told a press conference, while criticising what he called “the US and Western escalation” in calling for foreign intervention.

“We reject any foreign military presence down there, apart from within the framework of the African Union (AU),” Shalgham said. A non-African deployment would create an “explosive” situation.

“Darfur is situated on the Libyan border and, as a result, the security of the region affects the national security of Libya”, he said.

The foreign minister added that his country was “prepared to take part in the African observers mission in Darfur and also to provide for their protection”.

AU observers have been deployed in Darfur, a region the size of France, to monitor a fragile ceasefire between rebels and government forces backed by local Janjaweed militias.

Sudan has asked Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to sponsor peace talks to bring an end to 18 months of bloodshed in Darfur, the official Libyan news agency JANA reported earlier Monday.

AU-sponsored peace talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa broke down on July 18 without an agreement.

The United Nations says up to 50,000 people have died since the revolt against the Khartoum government over economic neglect broke out in February 2003.

More than a million people have been driven from their villages in the conflict.

Washington, the United Nations and European Union have demanded that Khartoum immediately disarm the militias and make them respect a ceasefire signed April 8 after talks in the Chadian capital Ndjamena.