UN, Sudan reach deal to disarm Arab militia in Darfur
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-06 12:21

The deal was reached between Jan Pronk, the UN's special representative for Sudan, and Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail Wednesday night and has yet to be approved by the Sudanese cabinet, Denise Cook told reporters in New York.

Under the deal, the Sudanese government would also have to improve security for the 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Darfur and alleviate the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.

Cook quoted Pronk as expressing the hope that if the deal is endorsed by the cabinet and implemented, "the Security Council would come to the conclusion that there was indeed substantial progress and that there was no need to consider further action."

The Security Council adopted a resolution last Friday threatening to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on Sudan if its government fails to make good its commitments to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, and restore security in Darfur.

The resolution requested UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report back to the council monthly on the progress Sudan has made.

Cook said the United Nations would not release the text of the deal until it gets through the Sudanese cabinet.

The agreement "contains detailed steps to be taken in the next 30 days on how to begin to disarm the Janjaweed and other outlawed groups, on improving security in Darfur and on addressing the humanitarian crisis," she said.

Pronk is in Khartoum attending the second meeting of the Joint Implementation Mechanism, set up by the UN and Sudan to oversee the implementation of Sudan's promises set out in a joint communique issued on July 3 as Annan wrapped up a trip to the country.

Pronk was also quoted by Cook as saying Khartoum has unblocked access for aid workers to refugee camps across Darfur and urging the international community to take advantage to deliver food, medicines and other aid.

In Khartoum, the Sudan Media Center quoted Brigadier General Jamal al-Hueres, police chief of North Darfur state, as saying that Sudan's government is going to start disarming the Arab militia in Darfur next week.

The disarmament of the militia "will be carried out both on a voluntary basis and through searches carried out by the police," he said.

Darfur, bordering Chad, has been beset by a conflict between the rebel forces, formed by local black tribes, and the government and the Janjaweed since February 2003. The militia has been accused of carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign against black Africans in the conflict.

According to UN estimates, fighting and attacks by the Janjaweed have killed up to 30,000 people in Darfur and driven more than 1 million out of their homes. UN officials have listed the region as a site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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