Arabs Displaced in Darfur Amid Fight Over Land

BERLIN - Arabs in Sudan's Darfur region are being displaced as they fight over land abandoned by Africans who have fled to refugee camps in a new trend in the conflict-ridden area, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

President George W. Bush's special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios told reporters in Berlin he was worried by the development which was pushing up mortality rates in the region.

He also said some evidence suggested the Sudanese government was undertaking a population resettlement programme by bringing in Arabs from Niger and Chad.

"There have been 200,000 people displaced in fighting this year -- it is not, however, who we think it is," said Natsios.

"It is Arabs being displaced for the first time. They are fighting with each other over land they are taking away from Africans who are in the camps ... that is a troubling trend.

"They have been killing each other and burning each others' villages down to control that land. That's causing a lot of displacement and that is increasing the malnutrition rates."

Rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region took up arms against the government in 2003, saying Khartoum discriminated against non-Arab farmers.

Khartoum mobilised proxy Arab militia to help quell the revolt. Some of the militiamen pillaged villages and killed civilians but the government denies supporting them.

As a result of the ethnic and political conflict, international experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes in the last 4-1/2 years. Many now live in squalid camps.

Natsios said he had talked to the Sudanese government about the new displacement and said some people claimed the Sudanese government was encouraging the trend.

"There is evidence the Sudanese are doing a population resettlement programme where they are bringing Arabs from Niger and Chad into western Darfur, giving them land and citizenship papers so they can vote in the election," he said.

Natsios also said mortality rates had risen in the last few months in Darfur due to a strong rainy season and floods.

"The sewage mixes with drinking water; that makes people sick and the malnutrition rate goes up," said Natsios, adding that action was being taken to contain the problems.

The envoy also said there were risks for the peace talks between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups which are due to start on Oct. 27 in Libya.

He said both sides could easily fall back into hardened positions where they were unable to make compromises.

"If the groups are being obstructive, I think we will have to use aggressive diplomatic measures like sanctions -- individual sanctions on people," he said.