Pakistan says Sudan heeding UN call to end Darfur crisis

ISLAMABAD, Aug 9 (AFP) — Sudan has given assurances that it is making efforts to comply with a UN Security Council resolution to rein in its Janjaweed militia blamed for atrocities in Darfur, Pakistan said Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Sudan’s president and foreign minister had given the assurances to Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, who visited Khartoum as a special envoy of President Pervez Musharraf.

“They briefed the special envoy about the efforts being made by Khartoum to implement the Security council resolution 1556, despite the compressed timetable,” Khan said.

The envoy was carrying a message from Musharraf to his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir and Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail underlining “Pakistan’s deep and sincere desire for an early resolution of the crisis in Darfur,” Khan told a weekly press briefing.

The UN resolution warned Sudan to rein in its Janjaweed militia blamed for atrocities in Darfur, lift restrictions on humanitarian aid and facilitate access within 30 days or face “international measures”.

A 17-month conflict in Darfur between ethnic minority rebels and the Sudanese army with its Arab militia allies has left 50,000 people dead and displaced about 1.2 million, in what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Pakistan, a non-permanent member of the 15-member Security Council, was one of two members which did not back the resolution, despite the urging of council members.