Relief planes used to send arms to DarfurRelief planes used to send arms to Darfur, 89 killed
12/5/2004 3:00:00 PM GMT
Violence flared again in Darfur over the recent weeks
Relief planes coming from Eritrea are being used to send weapons to rebels in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, the semi-governmental Sudanese Media Center (SMC) reported Sunday.
The SMC quoted "informed sources" as saying that the arms shipments were flown on planes belonging to unidentified organizations operating in the humanitarian field in Darfur.
Violence flared again in Darfur over the recent weeks, with rebels continuing to violate a ceasefire that was signed in April 2004.
The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003, when African rebels demanded an end to the marginalization of their region by the Khartoum government as well as a bigger share of Sudan's riches.
Sudan says rebels kill 89
On Sunday, the Sudan government accused Darfur rebels of killing 89 people during 300 armed robberies since a ceasefire was signed in April.
Ahmed Mohamed Haroun, the state minister for interior affairs, distributed a list showing that the number of looting attacks in the troubled region, in the eight months after the ceasefire was signed, was way higher than in the previous 15 months.
"The state cannot allow this to happen ... even though we are totally committed to the ceasefire," Haroun told reporters on Sunday.
Since the ceasefire was signed in April, there were 320 attacks with 89 people killed.
Sudan has been under mounting pressure with the United Nations threatening it with sanctions if it failed to end the violence in Darfur and rein the Janjaweed militias.
The United Nations has described the situation in Darfur as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Haroun added that rebels were indirectly endangering African Union forces deployed in Darfur.
Last week, gunmen shot at an AU unit in South Darfur state, wounding a Chadian soldier.
"These (monitoring) forces do not need anything more than the commitment of both sides to what they have promised and signed to do," he said.
the smc quoted "informed sources" as saying that the arms shipments were flown on planes belonging to unidentified organizations operating in the humanitarian field in darfur. yea like that's going to fly can't they come up with a better excuse than that
(Click to Rate) celal from canada
that was from a government run hospital. surely they wouldn't lie. sudan has been shooting followers of jc for years. the au, eu, and the un have done little to fix the problem. when the rebels attack, they need to stay and fight, not run away. if only they had the money to bribe the same men that were in the oil for cash scam. are there any clerics in sudan calling on their people to protect the refugee's?
(Click to Rate) Marc from Va