Powell blasts reported Sudanese relocations as “unacceptable”

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (AFP) — US Secretary of State Colin Powell blasted as “unacceptable” reports that Sudanese security forces were bent on forcibly relocating refugees from a camp in the troubled Darfur region.

A displaced woman of the Darfur region of Sudan walks 10 November 2004 in front of her numbered tent in the new camp of Sereif, on the outskirts of Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan. (AFP).

US officials said they had reports that Sudanese troops were trying to drive people out of a camp at Al Geer, just a day after the warring parties struck a breakthrough deal to end hostilities in Darfur.

Powell, speaking to journalists after meeting with NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said he was “disappointed” by the reports coming on the heels of Tuesday’s accord that he described as “a little bit of progress.”

“I spoke to Vice President (Ali Osman) Taha over the weekend and specifically said that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, we couldn’t understand it and it was not helping us reach a solution,” the chief US diplomat said.

“And so we’ll be pursuing this with the Sudanese. And I’m sure it’ll be discussed within the (UN) Security Council as well,” he said.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the incident would be the second time in a week that security forces had tried to forcibly relocate civilians, a move condemned by the international community.

He said the United States was urging that those displaced from Al Geer be allowed to return to the camp and was looking to the African Union to initiate a full on-site investigation.

“Certainly we think the government of Sudan needs to be held accountable for any problems that occur to these people,” Boucher told reporters.

He said the security situation in Sudan had worsened in recent weeks, hampering efforts by international organizations to provide assistance in the Darfur region in the country’s west.

“These accords that were signed in Abuja need to be respected, and the kind of actions that we’re seeing, of removing people by force, need to be reversed.”

Peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups in the Nigerian capital of Abuja produced a breakthrough agreement Tuesday committing both sides to a complete cessation of hostilities.

The parties also agreed to give international relief agencies full access to Darfur’s 1.5 million displaced civilians and to cooperate fully with the 3,250-strong African Union truce-monitoring force.