- The leaders of the world's great powers, united in a G8 summit, today urged the government of Sudan to immediately disarm the Janjaweed militia, committing ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) has established a mission to monitor the cease-fire in the Darfur region and the Khartoum government blames the West for the Darfur conflict.
The leaders of the so-called Group of Eight (G8) countries - including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US - are currently united in the United States and today expressed "grave concern over the humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in Darfur."
In a G8 statement released by the Washington presidency, the leaders especially called on the Sudanese government "to disarm immediately the 'Janjaweed' and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur." The conflict parties needed to "address the roots of the Darfur conflict and to seek a political solution," the statement continued.
While the heads of the world's greatest economies hailed the African Union for sending monitoring mission to the Darfur region to supervise the cease-fire agreement, they also pledged to their "assistance in ending the conflicts in Sudan and in providing humanitarian aid to those in need."
The UN needed to take on a greater role in Darfur to avert a "major disaster," they further held. The G8 powers include all countries except China that are permanent members of the UN Security Council and thus have the means to oblige the UN to take on such a role. The UK is already pressing for the UN Security Council to take action to resolve the Darfur crisis.
The G8 leaders today had met with several African heads of state during their summit. The African leaders urged developed countries to give greater attention to Africa at large, but also to the crisis in Darfur in particular. Further, they asked for financial assistance for the AU monitoring mission to Darfur, which set up Wednesday.
The European Union (EU) today came to the assistance of the AU by deciding to allocate euro 12 million to the monitoring mission. The EU funding would "support the rapid deployment" of the mission, according to EU commissioner Poul Nielson, who was satisfied that the EU had treated the African appeal in record time. The AU had appealed for funding at the end of May.
Meanwhile, in Cairo, the Sudanese Vice President put the blame for the Darfur conflict on Western powers and in particular on the EU. Vice President Ali Osman Taha, on an official visit to Egypt, claimed that the Europeans were holding back an estimated US$ 400 million in Sudanese government funds, which the Khartoum government had wanted to invest in development projects in Darfur.
According to Vice President Taha, the EU was holding back these Sudanese funds until the Khartoum government had reached a final peace agreement with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in southern Sudan. Lack of ability to invest in Darfur had made this region prone for conflict, Mr Taha held.
The Sudanese government also recently has dismissed charges by UN officials that an ethnic cleansing campaign is going on in Darfur. It further maintains Khartoum is not aiding the Janjaweed militia, although humanitarian workers and the media have documented the cooperation of militia members, regular army forces and Sudanese state officials.
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