Darfur crisis catches worldwide attention
KHARTOUM, July 26, 2004 (Xinhua) — The crisis in western Sudan’s Darfur region has been on the agenda of several major meetings and caught massive attention from the international community over the past month.
The conflict in the region led to discussions among leaders of various countries at the EU-US summit, the G-8 summit and the summit of the African Union in June.
Earlier this month, both UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell flew to the African country to exchange views with Sudanese leaders on the issue.
Like other African nations, Sudan’s borders were demarcated in the colonial era. Tangled ethnic and religious conflicts have resulted in surging violence in the country.
The region of Darfur was plunged into a conflict in February 2003, when two rebel forces took up arms against the Sudanese government. They accused the authorities of not protecting them from the attacks of Arab militias and asked for regional autonomy.
Under intensive international peace-making efforts, the government reached a cease-fire agreement with the armed opposition in April. But the accord has not been seriously carried out, with civilians still being killed.
Preliminary estimates put the death toll at some 30,000. More than a million people have fled their homes in the turmoil.
The pressure on the Sudanese government to solve the conflict mounted while diplomatic talks went on.
US Secretary of State Powell presented a revised draft resolution to the UN Security Council last Thursday, threatening to impose UN sanctions on the Sudanese government if it fails to arrest leaders of Arab militias operating in the Darfur region.
The European Union also joined the choir for sanctions on Monday after a meeting of foreign ministers of its member states.
On its part, the Sudanese authorities blamed the violence in Darfur on the rebels and turned down their request for autonomy while bluntly denying having any links with the Arab militias.
The Sudanese government also voiced strong opposition to international military intervention, arguing that the Darfur conflict is Sudan’s internal affair.
The country also rejected resolutions passed last Thursday by the US Congress which declared that Arab militias’ attacks in the Darfur region amounted to a “genocide.”
External Relations Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said the Bush administration was aiming to vie for ballots from black voters by making such irresponsible remarks on the Darfur issue.
His remarks were echoed by Sudanese media which believed that the United States attached great importance to Darfur because of its upcoming presidential election.
In Detroit, the United States, Bush told African Americans on Friday he wanted vote from American blacks and acknowledged his Republican Party had “a lot of work to do” to win the support of blacks.