AU bares teeth at Sudan over Darfur

ADDIS ABABA – African leaders pressed Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir yesterday to disarm the Arab militiamen who have killed thousands of people in the Darfur region and forced more than a million black Africans to flee attacks, an African Union spokesman said.

The presidents of Nigeria, Chad and South Africa met Bashir yesterday to discuss plans to improve security in Darfur in a bid to encourage refugees to return to their homes and facilitate distribution of humanitarian aid to victims of the violence, spokesman Adam Thiam said. UN officials and human rights groups have accused the el-Bashir’s government of backing the Arab militiamen – known as the “Janjaweed,” or horsemen – in a violent campaign to expel African farmers from the France-sized region.UN officials have called the situation in Darfur the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and say that thousands of people have been killed and more than a million others have been forced from their homes.Most of the refugees have taken shelter in makeshift camps along the Chad-Sudan border.Sudan denies the allegations, but last week el-Bashir promised UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Collin Powell – both of whom were visiting the country – that his government would disarm the militia.- Nampa-APUN officials and human rights groups have accused the el-Bashir’s government of backing the Arab militiamen – known as the “Janjaweed,” or horsemen – in a violent campaign to expel African farmers from the France-sized region.UN officials have called the situation in Darfur the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and say that thousands of people have been killed and more than a million others have been forced from their homes.Most of the refugees have taken shelter in makeshift camps along the Chad-Sudan border.Sudan denies the allegations, but last week el-Bashir promised UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Collin Powell – both of whom were visiting the country – that his government would disarm the militia.- Nampa-AP