Sudanese FM to meet French counterpart Saturday night

PARIS, Feb 11, 2005 (KUNA) — Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, will meet here Saturday night with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier to discuss bilateral relations and especially the furor over the human rights’ abuses in the Darfur region of Western Sudan.

Ismail is stopping off in Paris on his way home from New York and has requested a meeting with Barnier, an official said, by way of explanation.

“The meeting will deal with Franco-Sudanese bilateral relations, the perspectives offered by the signature of the peace accord (for southern Sudan) on January 9 and the crisis in Darfur where the situation today remains very worrying,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.

France has been sharply critical of the way the authorities in Khartoum have failed to rein in their militias in Western Sudan, where the civilian population has borne the brunt of a war with local separatist groups.

Sudan has been condemned at the United Nations and by Non-governmental Organizations and further action is being considered in view of the failure to act against the militias that have driven over 1.6 million people on to the roads and into makeshift camps and are also responsible for widespread killing, rape and torture.

France said several days ago that it wants the perpetrators of these atrocities to be brought before the International Criminal Court that was set up to try war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN report on Darfur also suggested this, but the United States, which opposed the creation of the ICC, says it would rather see and ad hoc tribunal set up as was the case for Rwanda.