|
Military Action May Be Needed In Sudan: Annan
|
|
|
"By
'action' in such situations I mean a continuum of steps, which may
include military action," Annan said (AFP)
|
GENEVA,
April 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The international
community must be ready to take decisive action against Sudan,
including possible military force, if Khartoum denies aid workers
access to the strife-torn Darfur region, U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan said Wednesday, April 7.
The
statements came a day after the Kenyan mediator said the Sudanese
government and the main rebel group have reached agreement on key
issues.
In
a speech to mark the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, Annan
told the U.N. Human Rights Commission that reports of "ethnic
cleansing" and atrocities in Darfur "leave me with a deep
sense of foreboding."
"It
is vital that international humanitarian workers and human rights
experts be given full access to the region, and to the victims,
without further delay," he was quoted as saying by Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"If
that is denied, the international community must be prepared to take
swift and appropriate action," said the U.N. chief.
"By
'action' in such situations I mean a continuum of steps, which may
include military action," he elaborated.
Human
rights groups and U.N. aid workers have accused government-backed
militia of killing, raping and looting local inhabitants from four
local ethnic groups and systematically forcing them out of their
villages in Darfur.
An
estimated 670,000 people have fled their homes in Darfur, where
international aid workers warn they cannot reach many victims despite
repeated requests for access to the Sudanese government.
About
110,000 people from Darfur have sought refuge in neighboring Chad
since the middle of last year.
Similar
accounts of attacks have also been given by some of the refugees, who
told U.N. aid workers in recent weeks that Sudanese border patrols
were stopping more people from fleeing.
A
U.N. human rights mission to investigate the allegations arrived in
eastern Chad Tuesday, April 6.
The
Sudanese government had not given the mission permission to enter
Sudan, a U.N. spokeswoman said Tuesday.
"At
the invitation of the Sudanese government, I propose to send a
high-level team to Darfur to gain a fuller understanding of the extent
and nature of this crisis, and to seek improved access to those in
need", Annan told the Commission.
Direct
Talks
|
|
|
A
child refugee from the Sudan Darfur area plays on the sand outside
his tent (AFP)
|
Anna’s
remarks came a day after the Sudanese government and rebels held their
first direct talks on ending the conflict in Darfur.
The
two sides met in the presence of Chadian President Idriss Deby, whose
government is mediating in the conflict, and international observers.
Representatives
of the government and two rebel movements -- the Sudan Liberation
Movement (SPLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (MJE) -- were
seen entering the same room in the Chadian foreign ministry early
Tuesday evening, reported AFP.
The
meeting was held behind closed doors and the agenda was not made
available to waiting journalists.
Agreement
Meanwhile,
the Kenyan mediator said the Sudanese government and SPLM have reached
agreement on power-sharing and the status of three disputed regions,
key outstanding issues in marathon peace talks.
"There
has been very good progress, they have agreed on packages on
power-sharing and the conflict areas," Lazaro Sumbeiywo told AFP
by phone from venue of the negotiations in Naivasha, northwest of
Nairobi.
"But
they have asked for four to five days in order to sign something. Now
what is remaining are details on security arrangements (during a
post-war interim period) and implementation modalities," he
added, declining to divulge details of the agreements.
"Generally
they have agreed on the key issues, now the technical committees are
working on finalizing issues, which of course may take days," an
official from the mediation team, who did not want to be named, told
AFP.
"Of
course, in these kind of talks, by experience, it is when it has been
signed that one is to say things are finished," he noted.
U.S.
Pressure
|
|
|
Vice
President Taha (R) and SPLM leader Garang (AFP)
|
The
U.S. said Tuesday that peace talks between the two sides had reached a
"make-or-break" point and pressed them to reach a deal by
the end of this week.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell called Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Taha and
SPLM leader John Garang over the weekend to impress on them
Washington's desire to see a speedy conclusion to the negotiations,
the State Department said.
"The
point that we are making to both the SPLA and the government of Sudan
is that this is make-or-break time in the negotiations," deputy
spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"It's
time to bring the process to a conclusion this week and that's what
we're hoping to see," he told reporters, adding that the acting
top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Charles Snyder, was now at the site of
the peace talks in Kenya.
Taha
and Garang began a series of face-to-face negotiations in September
2003.
Lower-level
discussions aimed at ending a civil war that broke out in 1983 were
launched in Kenya in 2002.
The
latest deals centre on the administration of three disputed regions --
Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile -- as well as the sharing
of political and administrative posts.
While
the disputed areas are not strictly part of southern Sudan, the SPLM
claims to represent the people of the three regions.
|
