US miffed at Sudan’s attitude

EL FASHER, Sudan – The Sudanese government has disappointed US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in talks on the crisis in the troubled western region of Darfur, a senior US official said yesterday.

Powell, on the second day of a visit to Sudan, arrived in Darfur yesterday for a first-hand look at some of the million people displaced by marauding Arab militias in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. He has threatened unspecified UN Security Council action if Khartoum does not crack down on the militias, known locally as the Janjaweed, and streamline relief work in the region.But a senior US official said that in Powell’s initial talks the Sudanese did not realise the gravity of the crisis.”They are in a state of denial.They are in a state of avoidance.They are trying to obfuscate and avoid any consequences,” said the official, who asked not to be named.To add to the international pressure, the United States plans to share the draft of a UN Security Council resolution on Darfur with other members in New York yesterday, he added.As Powell took off from the Sudanese capital, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Khartoum on a similar mission, demonstrating the high-level international interest in the plight of two million Darfuris affected by the conflict.For most of his flight, Powell held talks with Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail on how to deal with the Darfur crisis.In Khartoum on Tuesday evening Powell met Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.Bashir has promised to disarm the Janjaweed and give the relief organisations access to the region.But the senior US official said: “He (Bashir) has said these things before.We’ll have to see what they actually do.”Powell drove around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in a special four-wheel-drive vehicle, flown in from Washington for his three-hour visit.The Sudanese army provided an escort in the form of pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on the back.Powell stopped to meet truce monitors from the African Union and the commander told him that the group had no substantiated reports of ceasefire violations in the past month.But a monitor from the Sudan Liberation Army, one of two rebel groups in Darfur, said that the Sudanese military had bombed villages in recent days and Janjaweed had then attacked on the ground – a frequent pattern suggesting coordination.The Sudanese government rejects charges it supports the Janjaweed.Aid agencies hope the visits by Powell and Annan will make a difference, by bringing a change in the government’s attitude and galvanise other governments into action.Since Powell’s visit was announced, donors have been much more willing to provide aid, said Marcus Prior, spokesman for the World Food Programme in Khartoum.”Our best hope is to limit the human cost and these visits come when we have a small window of opportunity before the rains come to pressure the international community to scale up operations and make the government sort out security,” Greg Elder of Medecins Sans Frontieres said.A senior US official said up to a million people could die this year in camps because the government-backed Janjaweed have razed villages, burned crops and destroyed water sources.Relief organisations are racing to take food and medicine to camps before the imminent rainy season cuts off vast areas.- Nampa-ReutersHe has threatened unspecified UN Security Council action if Khartoum does not crack down on the militias, known locally as the Janjaweed, and streamline relief work in the region.But a senior US official said that in Powell’s initial talks the Sudanese did not realise the gravity of the crisis.”They are in a state of denial.They are in a state of avoidance.They are trying to obfuscate and avoid any consequences,” said the official, who asked not to be named.To add to the international pressure, the United States plans to share the draft of a UN Security Council resolution on Darfur with other members in New York yesterday, he added.As Powell took off from the Sudanese capital, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Khartoum on a similar mission, demonstrating the high-level international interest in the plight of two million Darfuris affected by the conflict.For most of his flight, Powell held talks with Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail on how to deal with the Darfur crisis.In Khartoum on Tuesday evening Powell met Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.Bashir has promised to disarm the Janjaweed and give the relief organisations access to the region.But the senior US official said: “He (Bashir) has said these things before.We’ll have to see what they actually do.”Powell drove around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in a special four-wheel-drive vehicle, flown in from Washington for his three-hour visit.The Sudanese army provided an escort in the form of pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on the back.Powell stopped to meet truce monitors from the African Union and the commander told him that the group had no substantiated reports of ceasefire violations in the past month.But a monitor from the Sudan Liberation Army, one of two rebel groups in Darfur, said that the Sudanese military had bombed villages in recent days and Janjaweed had then attacked on the ground – a frequent pattern suggesting coordination.The Sudanese government rejects charges it supports the Janjaweed.Aid agencies hope the visits by Powell and Annan will make a difference, by bringing a change in the government’s attitude and galvanise other governments into action.Since Powell’s visit was announced, donors have been much more willing to provide aid, said Marcus Prior, spokesman for the World Food Programme in Khartoum.”Our best hope is to limit the human cost and these visits come when we have a small window of opportunity before the rains come to pressure the international community to scale up operations and make the government sort out security,” Greg Elder of Medecins Sans Frontieres said.A senior US official said up to a million people could die this year in camps because the government-backed Janjaweed have razed villages, burned crops and destroyed water sources.Relief organisations are racing to take food and medicine to camps before the imminent rainy season cuts off vast areas.- Nampa-Reuters