Powell unhappy at Sudan’s Darfur camp relocations

MEXICO CITY, Nov 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced displeasure on Monday at Sudan’s movement of camps for people who fled their homes in Darfur.

Speaking to reporters as he flew to Mexico City, Powell said he had telephoned Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha on Sunday to convey U.S. disapproval.

United Nations officials last week said armed Sudanese police surrounded two camps on the edge of the capital of South Darfur state, Nyala, Tuesday and moved some 7,000 camp residents to another site a few miles away.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Khartoum to stop such relocation operations and his top envoy in Sudan said by moving the people Khartoum was violating international law and its U.N. agreements, which the government denied.

“We are not pleased with events of recent days. The forced movement of the camp, we disapprove of,” Powell said, adding that he wanted the Sudanese government to show more flexibility on security arrangements in talks with Darfur rebels in Abuja, Nigeria.

Some 1.6 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur. Many accuse the government of bombing their homes and backing the Arab Janjaweed militias, who they say burned their villages and killed inhabitants.

Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed.

African Union mediators adjourned peace talks in Abuja on Saturday to plan a new approach after failing to get Sudan and and Darfur rebels to end a dispute over security issues.

Powell said he was worried that AU forces were not being moved into Sudan as fast as he would like.

He also cited unspecified “progress” in talks to resolve the separate North-South dispute in Sudan, saying: “We might be able to provide a little electricity to those proceedings when the Security Council meets in Nairobi around the 18 or 19th.”