Sudan Min: committed to UN’s 30-day deadline for action
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug 02, 2004 (AP) — A Sudanese minister said Monday that his government is committed to a U.N. Security Council resolution setting a 30-day deadline for action on Darfur but warned that the Sudanese army considers the period insufficient.
The remarks by Najeib El-Kheir Abdul Wahab, state minister for foreign affairs, contradicted a statement the day before by Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, who said the U.N. deadline was “illogical.”
However, the government has so far given no definitive response to the resolution and Abdul Wahab’s statement was the closest yet by the government to accepting the 30-day deadline.
“The government is committed to its agreement with the United Nations and the African Union resolution which imposed measures on both sides,” said Abdul Wahab, speaking of an agreement reached in July in which Sudan agreed to immediately start to disarm the Arab militias, to begin deploying soldiers and policemen to improve security, and to facilitate humanitarian aid and allow African Union troops and human rights monitors into Darfur.
“But we are also committed to implement the Security Council resolution due to the fact that the resolution does not annul the U.N. agreement with the government.”
Abdul Wahab’s statement comes a day after a senior army officer scoffed at the resolution. In an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite network, Lt. General Mohammed Bashir Suleiman, spokesman of the Sudanese Army, said the Security Council decision was “tantamount to a declaration of war.” He said the army “will fight any Western intervention” in Darfur.
Abdul Wahab tried to play down the army warning.
“The army looks to the resolution in a military perspective because (in its view) a one-month period is not sufficient and disarming the militias needs time. It is a gradual process and should be implemented in a balanced way,” he said.
The Security Council resolution gives Sudan 30 days to disarm Arab militias blamed for the deaths of thousands, mostly black Africans, in the western Darfur region or face diplomatic and economic penalties.
The U.N. and international aid organizations have accused the pro-government Janjaweed militias of waging a brutal campaign to drive Sudanese citizens of African origin out of Darfur. An estimated 30,000 people have been killed in the 17-month conflict; a million people have been forced to flee their homes; and an estimated 2.2 million people are in urgent need of food, medicine and other basics.
The Arab League plans to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Darfur next week. The League’s spokesman Hossam Zaki said the meeting is convened upon the request of Sudan .
France, the former colonial power in Chad, which borders the Darfur region, began deploying troops and humanitarian aid to the frontier on Saturday.