Sudan says it is ready for any action by U.N. over Darfur

KHARTOUM, Aug 22, 2004 (dpa) — Sudan is ready for any action the United Nations might take over the situation in the western province of Darfur, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismael said in Khartoum Sunday.

“We are ready for all options to be taken by the U.N. including military action against us,” he said.

Ismael also attacked the United States Congress, calling on it to “stop implementing Israeli and Jewish interests” in Darfur, in apparent reference to a resolution passed by Congress in July which declared “that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide”.

Ismael’s remarks were interpreted as indicating Sudan will not allow the deployment of foreign troops on its soil to end 18-months of clashes in Darfur, in which an estimated 50,000 have died and more than a million been driven from their homes.

Ismael said the government had undertaken security measures to meet demands regarding Darfur put forward by the U.N. earlier this month.

Commenting on peace talks due to start Monday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Ismael said the government was ready to attend the talks, provided the Darfur rebels did not seek to impose conditions.

“We are going to Abuja with no conditions and we urge the rebels to go also without any preconditions,” he said.

At the same press conference, Ahmed Mohammed Haroun, a minister at the Interior Ministry, said more than 2,000 police troops had been deployed to Darfur to reinforce the 6,000 police officers already there.

Earlier Sunday, the Khartoum newspaper al-Ajjam reported Sudanese authorities had submitted a list of the 30 most wanted Janjaweed militiamen to the U.N. and to the African Union. The militiamen are held responsible for the destruction of villages and the murder and rape of civilians in Darfur.

Two police officers, said to have collaborated with the Janjaweed militia in setting fire to villages in the region, and two members of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), a paramilitary force, accused of rape, are among those on the list. dpa wez rpm mga