Sudanese not doing enough to disarm militias: Straw

Welcoming a UN report on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has warned the Sudanese government that it is still not doing enough to disarm the militias.

In an initial response to the report, the Foreign Secretary said that it confirmed what he saw during a visit to Darfur.

"There has been some progress in Sudan over the past 30 days, including improvements in the humanitarian situation and limited disarmament of the Popular Defence Force. But we need to see much more," said Mr Straw.

More than 1.2 million people are internally displaced within Darfur and another 200,000 Sudanese live as refugees in Chad because of attacks by the Janjaweed militias and fighting between the government and two rebel groups.

However, Mr Straw slammed the Sudanese "culture of impunity" which has allowed the perpetrators of appalling attacks to escape justice.

"I believe that the modest improvements to date have come about primarily because of the pressure exerted by the international community," he added.

The Security Council's 15 members received the report yesterday – ahead of today's briefing by a senior UN envoy on what progress Khartoum has made on its pledges to restore security and disarm militias.

On July 30 the Council adopted Resolution 1556, which stated it may take action against Khartoum under Article 41 of the UN Charter if the authorities do not show after 30 days that they are fulfilling earlier promises to the UN to disarm the Janjaweed and restore security.

Article 41 measures include unspecified economic penalties and the severing of diplomatic relations. The Council's 30-day deadline expired on Monday.

Speaking outside the Council yesterday, Sudanese Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa said that his government was “on the right track” and had done “lots of things” to improve the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.

(gmcg/mb)