Violence in North Darfur hinders aid delivery: UN

CAIRO, Egypt, Nov 22, 2004 (AP) — Reported clashes in and around a village in northern Darfur disturbed crucial food deliveries to thousands of displaced people, despite new accords promising aid groups unhindered access, U.N. officials said Sunday.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels cheer as they speed across the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

An African Union team headed to the area to investigate.

One road west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, leading to the town of Tawilla has been declared a “no-go” zone for U.N. personnel following reports of “serious disturbances” and rumors of “heavy skirmishes” between the government and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, said Barry Came, a World Food Program staffer in Khartoum.

Reports of violence surfaced Thursday, just eight days after the Sudanese government and the two main rebel groups signed accords promising aid groups unfettered passage to Darfur’s displaced and banning “hostile” military flights over the region.

Because of the reported violence, the United Nations closed the road from El Fasher to Tawilla and Kabkabiya, Came said.

U.N. food agency trucks loaded with nearly 259 tons of food were stuck in El Fasher for two days before commercial trucks carried the food to Tawilla on Sunday, Came said.

“The commercial truck drivers are prepared to take the risk,” Came said.

An eight-member team of African Union personnel left for Tawilla to investigate complaints of violence, said AU Maj. William Molokwane. Speaking from El Fasher, he confirmed that there had been attacks, but he did not elaborate.

Other AU officials refused to comment on the reports.

Came said a sense of security prevailed for a couple of days after accords were signed Nov. 10 in Nigeria.

“For a couple of days last week it looked like there was a lessening of tension,” he said, adding that a camp that hosts 150,000 displaced in Jabal Mara mountains was reached by aid convoys for the first time in two weeks. Then, the Tawilla tension flared up again, he said.

“All Darfur needs is more eyes, as many eyes as possible” to monitor the cease-fire in an area the size of Texas, Came said.

The AU mission to Darfur has 300-500 personnel on the ground in Darfur, with a total of 3,320 troops to be deployed by Nov. 30.

The conflict in the western Darfur region started in February 2003 when two non-Arab African rebel groups who took up arms to fight for more power and resources. The Sudanese government responded by backing Arab militias now accused of targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.

The United States says the Arab militias have committed genocide. The United Nations considers the situation in Darfur to be the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world.

The rebellion and a devastating counterinsurgency campaign have driven 1.8 million refugees from their homes. International agencies estimate that since March, disease, malnutrition and clashes among the displaced have killed more than 70,000 people.