Sudan: 'The world is not doing enough'

A visiting American senior official has said his visit to a displaced persons camp in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region was “very disturbing” and said neither Sudan, the United Nations nor the international community were doing enough to address the crisis.

Richard Holbrooke, a former UN ambassador, spoke yesterday on his arrival at Al-Fasher airport after touring Krinding camp near El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.

The Sudanese government is under intense international pressure to restore calm across this swathe of western Sudan, where an 18-month insurgency has killed more than 30,000 people and driven more than 1 million from their homes.

A 30-day period given by the UN for the Sudanese government to rein in the Janjaweed – Arab militiamen accused of the violence against black African farmers – or face penalties expired on Monday.

A report from UN assessment teams who were on the ground in Darfur last week checking on the government’s efforts may not be ready to go the Security Council until tomorrow, when the UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, was to brief the Security Council.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the progress made by Sudan, Holbrooke answered: “No, I am not.”

“I do not think that anyone involved, the Sudanese government, the United Nations, the international community, my own country is yet doing enough,” he said.

”Everyone needs to do more. The core of this is a political problem and the humanitarian crisis will go on as long as the political issue is not resolved.”