Britain condemns upsurge in violence in Sudan’s Darfur

By ED JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

LONDON, Nov 25, 2004 (AP) — The British government on Thursday condemned the upsurge of violence in Darfur, and called on rebels and the Sudanese government to stop fighting.

Britain’s Minister for Africa Chris Mullin condemned recent attacks by the rebel Sudan Liberation Army on the town of Tawilla in North Darfur and the Kalma refugee camp in South Darfur. He said the violence was in clear breach of a Nov. 9 cease-fire agreed in Abuja, Nigeria.

“Retaliatory attacks by the government of Sudan are equally unacceptable,” Mullin said. “Both the government of Sudan and the SLA must stop all fighting immediately and abide by the terms of the security and humanitarian protocols that they agreed in Abuja for the benefit of the people of Darfur who have already suffered so much.”

Despite the cease-fire, fighting broke out last week between government-backed militias, known as Janjaweed, and SLA rebels, apparently after a tribal dispute over livestock.

The World Food Program said it had been forced to temporarily suspended its operations in most of North Darfur because of the renewed clashes.

The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003 when the SLA and another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.

The Arab-dominated government responded with a counterinsurgency campaign in which the Janjaweed has committed wide-scale abuses against the African population.

Mullin said he welcomed the statement by the U.N. envoy for Sudan, Jan Pronk, who on Thursday said the SLA was solely responsible for restarting the fighting.

“It is only through a peaceful, political dialogue that the situation in Darfur can be resolved,” he added.