Khartoum says onworking Blair demands for end to Darfur crisis

KHARTOUM, Oct 12 (AFP) — The Sudanese government said Tuesday it was making arrangements to implement demands which British Prime Minister Tony Blair made last week in Khartoum in a bid to end the 20-month-old conflict in Darfur.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters he met Monday with Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, who is also the president’s representative in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

“The meeting discussed the manner in which all aspects of the agreement (with Blair) will be implemented,” Ismail said.

The British premier held talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on October 6 and obtained five promises from Khartoum.

Blair demanded the African Union (AU) troop contingent be boosted, that the government provide the locations of its troops in Darfur, pull them back in conjunction with a rebel withdrawal, commit to an overall peace agreement for Sudan by the end of 2004, and abide by signed UN humanitarian protocols.

The AU currently has about 300 soldiers in Darfur tasked with protecting some 150 observers monitoring a fragile ceasefire struck in April between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups.

The United Nations says about 50,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 1.4 million people forced to flee their homes, since an anti-government rebellion broke out in February 2003.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in September threatening sanctions against Sudan’s vital oil industry for the government’s failure to rein in pro-government Arab militias accused of atrocities in Darfur.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, was due here Tuesday for talks, after reiterating the EU would keep up the pressure on the Khartoum government.