Sudan says working on UN demands, denies new Darfur unrest
KHARTOUM, Sept 21 (AFP) — The Sudanese government has begun work on meeting a UN ultimatum to stem the suffering caused by its bloody 19-month clampdown in Darfur, Khartoum newspapers reported Tuesday, as officials denied reports of new fighting in the region.
Ministers began detailed consideration of Saturday’s Security Council resolution on Monday with a view to thrashing out a plan to address its demands, junior foreign minister Al-Tigani Salih Fidhail told the government-owned Al-Anbaa daily.
Fidhail vowed that Khartoum would step up its efforts to resolve the crisis, which the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, despite its feeling that it had been unfairly treated.
“The resolution has dealt a fatal blow to the spirit of dealing with the United Nations but still the government will carry on with its efforts for addressing the situation in Darfur so that peace prevails in the west and in the south,” he said.
The minister was alluding to charges by Khartoum that southern rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army have been backing the ethnic minority insurgents in Darfur, jeopardising talks to end the 21-year conflict in the south which is Africa’s longest-running.
Fidhail reiterated government criticism of a finding by the US State Department that its clampdown in Darfur amounted to genocide, but insisted it remained willing to grant access to an international fact-finding mission.
“The government has nothing to hide and welcomes any committee that enjoys the credibility, honesty and competence required for conducting this job,” he said.
Al-Anbaa quoted another junior foreign minister, Naguib al-Khair Abdel Wahab, as voicing the same readiness for openness following a tour of Darfur by London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
“Amnesty International is welcome in Sudan at any time for continuing dialogue in the framework of the open-door policy pursued by the government,” Abdel Wahab insisted.
After the four-day tour, Amnesty secretary general Irene Khan said her delegation had uncovered persistent reports of rape and other abuses by state-sponsored militiamen in Darfur.
Al-Anbaa quoted Abdel Wahab as appealing to the Amnesty delegation to abide by “accuracy and credibility” in its reports.
On the ground, the Sudanese military denied reports of renewed fighting in North Darfur state hindering aid distribution.
Armed forces spokesman General Mohamed Beshir Suleiman insisted there had been no battle in Tawelah, south of the state capital of El Fasher, and no clashes north of the town.
“The military situation has been quiet all over Darfur region during the past days, and life is quite normal,” the general told state radio.
“The camps witness continued voluntary return by the displaced people to their villages,” he insisted, despite reports by aid groups of a continued exodus of displaced people.
The United Nations estimates that some 1.4 million people, most of them ethnic minority villagers suspected of supporting the rebels, have fled their homes in Darfur.
Security Council Resolution 1564 warns that the Security Council “will envisage” sanctions against Sudan’s oil industry unless Khartoum makes good on its promise to protect the region’s population.