Sudan’s Cabinet condemns prospect of foreign intervention in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 27, 2004 (AP) — The Sudanese Cabinet condemned Tuesday the prospect of foreign troops intervening in the conflict-ridden province of Darfur, saying Sudan could solve its own problems.

“The government expressed its absolute denunciation of the deployment of (foreign) troops in Darfur and affirmed that Sudan is capable of solving its conflicts by itself,” the Cabinet said in a statement after an extraordinary meeting chaired by Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha. President Omar el-Bashir is abroad.

The meeting came a day after the European Union’s foreign ministers urged the Sudanese government to implement a July 3 promise to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to disarm pro-government Arab militias, improve security in Darfur province, and to provide better access for relief organizations.

While no Western power or group of countries has said it favors deploying troops in Darfur, such a military option has been touted since it became clear that the Khartoum government was failing to disarm the militia that are widely believed to be responsible for the humanitarian crisis in the western province.

Up to 30,000 people, most of them black Africans, have been killed in Darfur, and an estimated 2.2 million are in urgent need of food or medical attention. The international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres warned Monday that “urgent action is still overdue.”

The violence in Darfur began 17 months ago when two rebel groups from the region’s African tribes took up arms in a struggle over land and resources. Arab militias known as Janjaweed retaliated with a campaign to drive the black Africans out of the provinces, burning and looting their villages. Foreign aid groups have accused the government of backing the Janjaweed, a charge Khartoum denies.

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has said his country has a moral responsibility to act over the humanitarian crisis, but that it was too early to consider military intervention. Gen. Michael Jackson, the U.K. chief of general staff, said this week his country would be ready to dispatch as many as 5,000 troops to Sudan , if required.

In Washington, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday the United States doesn’t plan to send troops to Darfur, but his country was in “diplomatic high gear” on the Sudan issue.