Sudan says it has complied with UN Peace resolution

The Sudanese government stated on Thursday that it had largely complied with the United Nation’s demands to clamp down on violence and bring security to the country. This statement has come despite the UN’s own chief Kofi Annan expressing his discontent at the image that most militia still have not been disarmed.

Sudan is optimistic that it will escape international sanctions after rebels stepped back from an agreement on humanitarian access in the Darfur region, after two-weeks of peace talks with representatives in Abuja, Nigeria.

In the UN, American officials accused Khartoum of directly being related to attacks on villagers in Darfur, and further criticised the “UN’s failure to emphasise the government’s involvement in the crisis”.

The resolution made on 30th July by the UN, gave Sudan 1 month to make substantial efforts to gain control pillaging Arab militia, who are better known as the ‘Janjaweed’. Aid access was also another major concern highlighted in the resolution, and objectives must be accomplished urgently to reach out to more than a million people who have been displaced by the fighting in Darfur.

Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail said, “The obligations which the government of Sudan was asked (to do), we already fulfilled it maybe by more than 70 to 80 percent, so it will be very difficult even for those who ... want to condemn ... Sudan. They will find it difficult to ignore these achievements.”

Years of smaller conflicts between African farmers and Arab nomads have troubled the area, however, rebels last year accused the government of aiding the Janjaweed and helping them to loot and burn African villages.

In response to these accusations, the Sudanese government admitted that they had armed some of the militia in order that they fight the rebels. However, the flatly deny any connection to the Janjaweed whom it has called outlaws.

The fighting escalated seriously and earlier this year the UN stated that Sudan was one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and that over 50,000 people had been killed. United Nation Secretary-General Annan commented on Wednesday that Khartoum had failed to halt the violence and that “the vast majority of armed militias have not been disarmed."

Annan reported to the UN Security Council stating that an area the size of France would take more than 30days to make safe, but that he had continued to receive report after report of further militia activities in Darfur.

The American hierarchy have also expressed their concerns that the violence had continued and that the agreed resolution had not been fulfilled by the Sudanese government. John Danforth, the US Ambassador said that 25% of Darfur refugees recorded in a survey recently by American officials in nearby Chad had reported that they had been “attacked exclusively” by the Sudanese military. Furthermore 50% said that these attacks had come as a result of the government working with the militia.

Previously to monitor the situation, the African Union deployed more than 100 representatives to observe and oversee the tentative cease-fire, and sent out 300 troops to protect these observers. However, now the U.N. envoy to Sudan has pressed the government to accept an international monitoring force of more than 3,000 troops to help prevent escalating militia attacks in the Darfur region.

Annan said, “a substantially increased international presence" was needed in Darfur to improve the security of the civilian population and reduce the level of bloodshed.

Ismail said, “The government of Sudan is open for anything that could help bring peace and security in Darfur."

Jan Pronk, who is the senior UN envoy in Sudan, called the situation in Darfur "critical" and said the government "has to be blamed" for failing to stop attacks outside selected areas where thousands of Sudanese fleeing the fighting have assembled.

At the Security Council briefing, he elaborated on Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an expanded force and said the Sudanese government should "accept assistance from the international community" if it could not protect its own citizens.

Afterwards, when asked about reports that the United Nations was pushing for a 3,000-strong force, Pronk told reporters, "Three (thousand) is not enough. We need thousands, thousands."

But he wouldn't give a definitive number, saying that it was up to the African Union to come up with a recommendation. He urged the 53-nation organisation to speed up its decision-making, citing a rise in attacks outside the safe areas.

Pronk briefed the Security Council on Thursday in a closed session, but an open debate is planned to follow this sometime next week.

"My expectation is that the resolution will try to balance between what has been achieved by the Sudanese government, which is irrefutable, and the pressures being exerted by certain groups for the condemnation of the... government," Ismail said.

The world has been called upon to react quickly and to keep the pressure on the Sudanese government by the UN and leading aid groups working in the region. President of Save the Children, Charles MacCormack said, “There is a real narrowing of the food, medicine and water pipeline that has to be expanded in the coming weeks or things will go from bad to worse.”

On Thursday, during the peace talks in Abuja, Darfur rebels ordered that the Janjaweed militia be prosecuted for its crimes, and for a no-fly zone to be put in place over the territory. These demands, they insisted, must be fulfilled before they will agree to sign any deal in relation to the humanitarian crisis.

The peace talks are due to reconvene on Saturday after Thursday’s adjournment. However, much is still to be reconciled between the two warring factions, as the rebels and the government both have accused the other of cease-fire violations. On top of this, the rebels have stated that they will refuse to consider any process of disarmament until the Janjaweed are fully retrained and under control.