Sudan govt defends its use of military aircraft in Darfur

CAIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Sudan defended its right on Thursday to use military aircraft in the troubled Darfur region despite a U.N. call to stop military flights and said it was protecting key supply routes and not bombing civilians.

Two Sudanese military helicopters at Elgeneina airport (AFP).

The U.N. special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that fighting still raged in Darfur.

He said there were air attacks as both sides massed weapons in the vast region and called for a halt to government military flights.

Only the government has military aircraft. “The government used aircraft. According to the Security Council resolution, the government is responsible for protecting routes and protecting civilians,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Cairo.

A U.N. resolution in November said Khartoum had the primary responsibility to protect its population.

“If the African forces there cannot protect routes and protect civilians, then the Sudanese government must undertake that,” he said, adding that the government had a right to use planes in an area larger than France.

Fighting in Darfur, which erupted in early 2003, has made 1.7 million people homeless and killed tens of thousands. The government and two main rebel groups signed a ceasefire in April but both have regularly accused the other of violations.

African Union troops have gone to Darfur to monitor the ceasefire. In December, the African monitors reported government helicopter strikes against a village in South Darfur state.

Ismail said that if key routes were cut because of rebel ceasefire violations then the government would not be able to deliver food and other supplies to the population.

Aid workers say rebels have attacked aid convoys in some areas of Darfur.

Rebels have accused the government of bombing villages by helicopter and Antonov planes. They also say the government had armed Arab militia, called Janjaweed, to kill and plunder non-Arab settlements, a charge the government denies.

Ismail said the government did not carry out aerial bombardments but would investigate such accusations.

“When we use aircraft, we do not use aerial bombardment. We do not use planes that drop bombs. This is different from helicopter gunship aircraft,” he said.