Khartoum agrees on action plan for Darfur

KHARTOUM/NAIROBI, Aug 09, 2004 (dpa) — The Sudanese government has said it will adhere to a joint Sudan-U.N. plan for ending the crisis in the western Darfur region, Sudanese media reported Monday.

The plan, which includes setting up safe areas for the return of displaced people in Darfur, was accepted by the government during a cabinet meeting in Khartoum on Sunday, reported the Sudan News Agency (SUNA).

The plan, drawn up by the U.N. Special Envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk and Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail last week, calls for the government to secure specific villages and camps and to set up safe access routes and escorted convoys, State Foreign Minister Al-Tigani Salih Fidhail told Sudanese media.

In addition, the agreement calls for a ceasefire between government forces and rebels in the safe areas and for the African Union (A.U.) monitors to ensure the rebels lay down their arms, said Fidhal.

Under the agreement Khartoum reportedly has to make sure that pro-government militias also lay down their arms.

Meanwhile, the government in Khartoum and the two rebel groups fighting in Darfur have agreed to sit down to new talks in Nigeria, starting August 23. The last round of talks broke down in July.

Late Sunday, the Arab League ended a one-day special meeting on Darfur called by Sudan.

The Arab foreign ministers called for the arrest of leaders of the government-supported militia in Sudan and rejected any foreign military intervention in the country.

The ministers also called for an investigation into human rights violations in the western Sudanese region and for the voluntary return of refugees to their homes.

Participants in the meeting, which included representatives from the (A.U.), the U.N. and Nigeria, called for “an immediate prosecution of some Janjaweed leaders as a beginning to a wide-scale disarmament campaign of outlawed militias.”

The Arab foreign ministers rejected any “threat of forced military intervention in the region” and noted that any pressure or attempt to impose sanctions will only result in negative repercussions on all Sudanese people and will complicate the Darfur crisis.

The U.N. Security Council has passed a resolution threatening eventual sanctions if Sudan does not act to defuse the crisis in Darfur.

The resolution adopted July 30 calls on Khartoum to disarm the feared Janjaweed militia within 30 days and end what is now commonly called the world,s worst humanitarian crisis. Sudan initially baulked at the resolution, but later said it would try to comply with its conditions.

Khartoum has been accused of backing the Moslem Janjaweed in a campaign of murder and rape against black African farmers in Darfur.

Arab foreign ministers also urged international donors to immediately finance humanitarian needs in the region. The final communiqué made no mention of any Arab commitment, financial or otherwise, despite a request from Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail for Arab support on the financial, political and security levels.