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Blair arrives in Sudan to press for Darfur peace
Britain's Tony Blair arrived in Khartoum Wednesday as the most senior yet in a parade of Western government figures seeking to pressure Sudanese officials over violence in Darfur province.
"There is a lot of human suffering which could and should be prevented," the prime minister's spokesman said as Blair set off for his trip.
Blair was met by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail on his arrival.
The first British leader to visit Sudan since independence from London in 1956, Blair will, however, draw short of Washington's description of the Darfur crisis as "genocide."
Rather, he will urge Khartoum for more progress in improving security and opening access to relief workers, and point to U.N. demands for more action under threat of sanctions. Darfur has been torn by violence since rebels took up arms against the government in February 2003, saying it had neglected and marginalized the impoverished region.
The rebels accuse the government of arming mounted Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The United Nations calls Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It estimates 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes and up to 50,000 killed.
Aid agencies urged Blair to take a tough line in Sudan.
"The situation in Darfur is not improving. Nearly six months after the cease-fire, there are daily reports of violence and insecurity," British-based Oxfam said in a statement.
"The prime minister can help thousands by shifting British policy up a gear."
As Blair begins his visit, MPs from the Darfur region said the country's former colonial power must bear some blame for the province's troubles.
"The United Kingdom is responsible for what is happening now in Darfur because it was the country which found Darfur as a separate state and invaded it and annexed it to the rest of Sudan without preserving any of its constitutional rights," said Idriss Youssef Ahmed, a member of parliament for South Darfur state.
Unlike previous visitors this year, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and various European foreign ministers, Blair will not visit Darfur.
"We know what the situation in Darfur is. The important thing is that something is done about it. So we believe the best use of time is to meet the government," the spokesman said.
Blair's trip to Sudan is his first major outing since Friday's successful operation for heart palpitations.
In a five-hour stopover en route to Ethiopia, Blair plans to meet President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and First Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, then give a news conference.
"Rather than concentrate on threats and sanctions, we would like to focus on trying to get progress that would make sanctions not necessary," the spokesman said. British officials say Blair's message to Khartoum officials will be three-fold -- negotiate a settlement with rebels in Darfur; allow "unfettered access" for aid workers; and accept an expanded role for African Union peacekeepers.
In a stinging U.N. assessment Monday, Annan said Sudan made no progress last month in stopping attacks on civilians or punishing culprits. Nor did the government make progress in nailing down a cease-fire, he added. While the U.S. government believes genocide is taking place, two top U.N. human rights watchdogs told the council last week war crimes probably occurred on "a large and systematic scale." British officials said they would reserve judgment on how to qualify the crisis until a U.N. inquiry. Britain is one of the largest donors for Darfur, with 62.5 million pounds ($111 million) committed this year. Blair is due to fly to Ethiopia later Wednesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in the evening and the UK-sponsored Commission for Africa meeting starting Thursday. |
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