Blair presses Sudan president over Darfur

By Andrew Cawthorne

KHARTOUM, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair pressed Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Wednesday to end violence in Darfur on the highest-level visit from a Western government official since the crisis erupted.

Blair — on his first major outing since Friday’s operation for heart palpitations — slept briefly on an overnight flight from London before going into talks with Bashir at his presidential palace beside the river Nile in Khartoum.

“There is a lot of human suffering which could and should be prevented,” Blair’s spokesman said of Darfur.

The first British leader to visit Sudan since independence from London in 1956, Blair was taking a tough approach with Bashir and other officials while avoiding Washington’s description of the Darfur crisis as “genocide”, aides said.

The U.S. line has infuriated Khartoum.

Darfur has been torn by violence since rebels took up arms against the government in February 2003, saying it had neglected and marginalised the arid Darfur region about the size of France.

The rebels accuse the government of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies that.

Calling Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the United Nations has threatened Sudan with oil sanctions.

It estimates 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes and up to 50,000 killed.

Blair was urging the Sudanese government to show more progress in reining back Arab militia, improving access for relief workers, negotiating with rebel groups, and allowing an expanded role for African Union peacekeepers, his aides said.

“We are here to underline the clear message to Sudan from the U.N.,” Blair’s spokesman told travelling UK reporters.

BRITISH COLONIAL LEGACY

Aid agencies urged Blair not to mince his words.

“The situation in Darfur is not improving…There are daily reports of violence,” Oxfam said. “The prime minister can help thousands by shifting British policy up a gear.”

While Bashir and others were sure to put up a robust counter-argument to Blair, legislators from Darfur added that the former colonial ruler must bear some blame for the crisis.

“The United Kingdom is responsible for what is happening now in Darfur because it was the country which found Darfur as a separate state and invaded it and annexed it to the rest of Sudan without preserving any of its constitutional rights,” said Idriss Youssef Ahmed, who represents South Darfur.

Unlike previous visitors this year, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and various European foreign ministers, Blair will not visit Darfur.

“We know what the situation in Darfur is. The important thing is that something is done about it,” his spokesman said.

“Rather than concentrate on threats and sanctions, we would like to focus on trying to get progress.”

In a stinging U.N. assessment earlier this week, Annan said Sudan made no progress last month in stopping attacks on civilians, punishing culprits or nailing down a cease-fire.

Khartoum accuses rebels of increasing attacks in an attempt to destabilise the region and ratchet up international pressure.

Britain is one of the largest donors for Darfur — with 62.5 million pounds ($111 million) committed this year.

Blair was due to fly to Ethiopia later on Wednesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in the evening and the UK-sponsored Commission for Africa meeting starting on Thursday.