Sudan has to do more to rein in Janjaweed militia: Solana

KHARTOUM, Oct 25, 2004 (Xinhua) — EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has urged the Sudanese government to do more to curb the Janjaweed militia in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, the Khartoum Monitor reported on Monday.

“I don’t think they are doing enough” to rein in the Janjaweed militia, Solana said in an interview with the newspaper during a visit here on Sunday.

“More has to be done because it is very important that the people of Darfur have the feeling that the government really cares about them,” he said.

Solana pointed out that many members of the Janjaweed were still at large and some have been incorporated into militias that are now against the rebels.

However, the EU official denied that he had exerted any pressure on the Sudanese government.

“We are coming here to talk frankly about how we see the situation and the type of things that could be done to stabilize a very important country,” Solana said.

After years of conflict between Arab nomads and mostly non-Arab farmers over scarce resources in Darfur, the rebels took up arms early last year.

The rebels have accused Khartoum of using Arabic-speaking militia, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages, a charge Khartoum denies.

About 1.5 million people have fled their homes and lived in camps.

Peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels are due to resume on Monday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

The previous round of talks collapsed after the rebels refused to sign humanitarian protocols agreed on by all sides. But the rebels said that the talks broke down because the government failed to disarm Arab militias.

On a visit to Addis Ababa Saturday, Solana said that the European Union would fund the African Union’s mission to Darfur with up to 100 million US dollars to help establish security there.

During his visit to Sudan, the EU official held talks with several government officials on how to resolve the Darfur problem.