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 Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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Rice says Sudan has credibility problem on Darfur
ABO SHOUK, Sudan (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday told Sudan's president his government had a "credibility problem" on the issue of Darfur and she wanted to see "actions not words."
In a meeting marred by scuffles involving Rice's aides and Sudanese security officials, Rice told President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to stop violence, especially against women, in the remote western region of his country
"I said to the Sudanese government that they had a credibility problem with the international community I have said; actions not words,"' Rice said in a round of interviews with journalists at a Darfur refugee camp.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice said the secretary of state told Sudanese officials the situation in Darfur was getting in the way of improved relations.
"On Darfur, her message was this is the obstacle to normalization," the official, who did not want to be named, told journalists traveling with Rice
The official said Bashir's priority was for the United States to lift sanctions on Sudan, which Washington says is a state sponsor of terror. Sudan hosted al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s
On Wednesday, Rice held out the possibility of sending an ambassador to Sudan for the first time since 1997, in a sign of improving ties after the installation of a new government on July 9 which included former rebels from the country's south
A peace deal earlier this year ended the southern civil war, which had lasted more than two decades and killed 2 million people
UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE"
Before arriving in Khartoum early on Thursday morning, Rice said she would seek to strike a balance between helping consolidate the coalition peace government and holding Sudanese accountable for the violence in Darfur.
Rice said she was particularly concerned women were still being raped in the conflict
"Welcome, welcome Condoleezza," sang scores of children who greeted Rice when she visited the northern Darfur Abo Shouk camp, home to some 50,000 people.
After talking to women who were victims of abuse, Rice said: "The stories are unbelievable but true ... we have got to have a better response (from the Sudanese government)."
Rebels in Darfur took up arms against the government in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of marginalising the arid province and discriminating against non-Arab settled communities in favor of Arab nomads
The violence, which abated this year, has driven some 2 million people from their homes and killed tens of thousands
Andrew Natsios, a top U.S. aid official with Rice, said the dip was largely because most villages had already been razed
He said he suspected the government was still giving material support to the militia. But he said the government no longer sent gunships to assist militia attacks
At the camp, Rice said the United States could loosen some of its sanctions after Sudanese officials told her the measures hindered efforts to move people and aid around the country
"Obviously, if there is a case on the humanitarian side we would be willing to look at it," she said
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hamid hajer
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