Zoellick trying to keep spotlight on Sudan crisis, pressure on its leaders

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

AMMAN, Jordan, Apr 14, 2005 (AP) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, fresh from pledging U.S. aid for Sudan, is attempting to keep the spotlight on the African country’s humanitarian crisis — and the pressure on its officials to end strife in its troubled western Darfur region.

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.(AFP).

Visiting the African country’s capital Thursday, the No. 2 State Department official planned talks with Sudanese leaders who reached a peace agreement in January to formally end a two-decade-old civil war in southern Sudan.

Violence, however, continues in the separate conflict in Darfur. On Friday, Zoellick is traveling inside the western swath of Sudan that the United Nations says has seen 180,000 deaths and more than 2 million people displaced from their homes over the past two years.

Many have died from war-induced famine and disease in addition to the fighting between ethnic African tribes and pro-government Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. In early 2003, the black tribes rebelled, claiming discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. The pro-government militias then launched a counterinsurgency.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has called the atrocities in Darfur genocide, and the U.N. has handed prosecutors from the International Criminal Court a list of 51 people to investigate for war crimes.

Earlier this week, Zoellick promised more than US$1.7 billion (A?1.3 billion) in U.S. aid, mostly for southern Sudan. But he said Sudanese leaders must make progress in stopping bloodshed in Darfur to ensure financial support.

The U.S. pledge of US$1.7 billion in aid came during a 60-nation conference in Oslo, Norway, in which countries committed to give US$4.5 billion (A?3.5 billion) over the next two years to cover Sudan’s humanitarian and reconstruction needs.

Between visits to Norway and Sudan to press U.S. policies toward the African country, Zoellick took a brief detour to Iraq to meet with its newly elected transitional leadership.