Powell urges Sudan to disarm militias

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sudan must act quickly to disarm Arab militias in its western Darfur region or face possible UN sanctions, stepping up pressure on Khartoum despite its accusation of US and British meddling in the crisis.

Powell met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the second time in three weeks to discuss what he called a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Darfur, where pro-government Janjaweed militias have been accused of killing up to 30,000 civilians and forcing a million to flee their homes.

US officials and humanitarian groups accuse the Sudanese government of backing the militias – a claim Khartoum denies.

“They have been supporting and sustaining some of these Janjaweed elements, and this has to end,” Powell said after meeting Annan.

“Since they turned it on, they can turn it off,” he added. “We made it clear to them that there will be consequences if it is not turned off.”

Powell and Annan made parallel visits to Sudan earlier this month. Sudan promised in a July 3 agreement with Annan to rein in Janjaweed, improve security for the villagers and provide better access for humanitarian workers and African Union monitors.

Powell said access to the region has since improved, but “we are still … not satisfied with the security situation.”

“It will do us no good to get the humanitarian situation on the mend, but to find it come to cropper because it is not a secure area either for the people to return to their homes or for the camps to be kept safe, or for the humanitarian workers to be safe,” Powell said.

“We still know that there’re bombings that take place, there are helicopter gunships in Darfur region,” he added.

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail yesterday accused the United States and Britain of meddling in the crisis, saying their increased pressure was the same tactic they used against Iraq.

He warned against any international intervention and told a news conference in Paris that threatening Sudan with sanctions would only complicate matters.

Annan and Powell dismissed the accusations.

“One person’s meddling is another person’s attempt to save people who are in desperate trouble,” Powell retorted.

“It is the responsibility of all nations through our collective voice at the UN as well as individually to speak to the Sudanese government in very direct terms about the fact that tens of thousands of their citizens have been killed and many tens of thousands more will die if we do not act now,” he said.

The fighting began when two groups drawn from Darfur’s African tribes took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government in their struggle with Arab countrymen over land and resources. The Janjaweed began attacking the black Africans, and some human rights groups have accused the militias of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

UN and US officials so far have declined to label the killings a genocide.