Khartoum: the American decision to halt peaceful efforts is hasty
Sudan-USA, Politics, 2/27/2002

A Sudanese daily said on Monday that the ruling party in Khartoum has criticized Washington's decision to halt its peaceful efforts in Sudan after the killing of 17 civilians in the south during an air raid despite the fact that a committee was formed to investigate in this incident.

The Sudanese independent daily al-Rai al-Am quoted the spokesman for the National Congress party al-Shafee Ahmad Muhammad as saying that the "decision is hasty and is not considered an indication on the good intention towards achieving peace." He added that the decision taken by the ministry of defense to form an investigation committee "into the alleged attack proves that the army does not target civilians."

The UN said that a Sudanese military helicopter opened fire on Wednesday at groups of civilians in Beya village in al-Wahda province in southern Sudan while they were waiting to receive food aids and that 17 persons of them were killed and many other wounded.

Following the attack, the US halted its talks with Khartoum noting that it will not resume these talks unless a complete clarification is issued by the Sudanese government about this incident.

The Sudanese army denied to have had deliberately targeted the civilians and described these accusations as "lies" spread by the People's Army For the Liberation of Sudan, stressing that its aim lies in protecting oil fields and its workers.

The spokesman told the paper that if Washington wants to use the incident as "an element to pressure the Sudanese government in order to accept what it had refused before, this will never happen." In January Khartoum refused an American proposal to deploy observers in order to prevent the bombardment of civilians by planes.

Previous Stories:
  US suspends peace talks with Sudan   (2/22/2002)
  US anger against Sudanese bombardment of a southern village   (2/14/2002)
  Sudan's foreign minister in Washington   (2/6/2002)

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