Sudan not ‘bothered’ by impending U.N. deadline for Darfur
By GILBERT DA COSTA, Associated Press Writer
ABUJA, Nigeria, Aug 26, 2004 (AP) — A top Sudanese official said Thursday his country isn’t “bothered” by a looming U.N. deadline to rein in Arab militia accused of atrocities in the bloodied Darfur region.
“We aren’t bothered by the U.N. deadline at all. It never crossed our mind. We are working towards our duties for our people,” said Sudan’s Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmad, lead government negotiator at peace talks with Darfur rebels in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
“We are a dignified people, not like other people and we will never compromise our national interests to that of any interest anywhere in the world,” said al-Khalifa Ahmad, defiant in the face of a June 30 U.N. Security Council deadline for the government to improve security in Darfur and rein in the Janjaweed militia there or face possible international sanctions.
A resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council on July 30 gave the government 30 days to improve the situation in Darfur or face possible sanctions. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to deliver a written report on Sudan’s compliance by Aug. 30 and a U.N. official currently monitoring the situation in Sudan will deliver his assessment to the council on Sept. 2.
The United Nations says violence has driven about 1.4 million people from their homes to some 147 camps throughout Darfur’s three states, while another 180,000 Darfur refugees have fled into neighboring Chad. Some 30,000 have died in Darfur violence.
The mostly-Arab Janjaweed are accused of attacking ethnic African villagers in what the U.S. congress and some aid groups call genocide. The government, accused of supporting the Janjaweed, only admit to having some “control” over them.
Al-Khalifa Ahmad said the peace conference will continue after the passing of the U.N. deadline.
“We’re going to continue the talks and the deadline will pass and we will continue negotiations for as long as it takes and that could be anything between five days and one month,” he said before entering a fourth day of the African Union-hosted talks.
The United Nations says Darfur has become the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since African rebels rose against the government in February 2003, claiming discrimination in the distribution of scarce resources. The uprising followed years of clashes between Darfur’s ethnic Arab herders and ethnic African farmers over scarce resources.
Some 150 AU troops from Rwanda are protecting 80 military observers in Darfur, monitoring an often-violated cease-fire. Earlier peace talks in Ethiopia broke down in July.