- The United States government has said that the Sudanese president, Omar Al Bashir, would be blamed for the worsening crisis and death of people in the troubled Darfur region following his expulsion of more than 13 aid agencies earlier this month.
President Al Bashir mounted a massive campaign against international aid organisation following his indictment by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity saying they fed the international court false accounts about Darfur.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the president and his government will be held responsible for every single death that occurs in the refugee camps of the Darfur region.
According to a statement from the US State department, Mrs Clinton, said the US government will commission an envoy to the country to assess the region’s crisis.
Although Mrs Clinton said she is clueless on the kind of pressure to be put on President Al-Bashir and the government, the US government seeks to reverse the expulsion of the agencies.
Since the expulsion of the agencies two weeks ago, the remaining aid agencies including the UN had been working hard to fill the vacuum left by the aid organisations to assist more than 4.7 million Sudanese including 2.7 million in refugee camps though they had admitted that they lacked capacity to reach all the people.
Ms Clinton said president Al-Bashir's government should be pressured to quickly reverse the expulsion to avert the deepening crisis. However, the president has stubbornly rejected calls by the international agencies to reverse the expulsion also saying his indictment was politically motivated.
“The United States is very concerned and is looking for more effective ways to convince the Sudanese government that they have assumed an even greater sense of responsibility and infamy in the eyes of the world by turning their backs on these refugees whom they created in the first place," said the US State Secretary.
The Darfur conflict which started in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government complaining of discrimination and neglect has killed has killed more than 300,000 people with more others displaced.
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afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.