Friday, September 3, 2004

Sudan urged to allow international peacekeepers in Darfur

The United Nations is urging Sudan to allow international peacekeepers to restore order in the troubled Darfur region.

The Sudanese Government is under pressure to deal with the humanitarian and security crisis in the western Darfur region.

United Nations special envoy Jan Pronk has delivered a report to the UN Security Council.

Mr Pronk says the Sudanese Government has a responsibility to protect its civilians from human rights violations.

The UN Security Council is debating whether to take action against Sudan after the expiry of a 30-day deadline to restore security.

Up to 50,000 people have been killed during attacks by militias, more than 1 million others have been displaced.

Meanwhile, Darfur's tough-talking rebel groups have refused to discuss disarming their forces and demanded an international inquiry into alleged atrocities by government forces.

The insurgents' hardline stance, which came on the first day of talks with the African Union, threatened to deadlock the dialogue and undermine the progress made so far on humanitarian issues.

"We are not going to accept the cantonment of our forces, even if it means the collapse of the talks," said Abdelhafiz Mustapha Musa, a delegate from the Sudan Liberation Movement.

"We will be giving the government the opportunity to bombard our soldiers if we agree to their encampment proposal," he said.

By In Solidarity 3 September 04

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