International pressure intensified on Khartoum over Darfur

Hours before the UN Security Council received the report on Sudan, the African union and international organizations supported accusations by the rebels against Khartoum on launching new attacks against civilians in the area.

Simultaneously, each of the current president of the African Union and the advisor for the UN coordinator for providing relief to refugees, Dennis Macnamara, announced that the Jangaweid launched last week new attacks against civilians and that the observers of the African Union supported the allegations of the rebels in this regard.

While the Sudanese authorities hopes to limit international pressure led by the UN, the US under secretary of state for African affairs was due to have met with the Sudanese officials in Khartoum.

The US stressed the need that the Sudanese government will execute all its obligations and meet all demands of the UN, otherwise the UN Security Council will decide to move on imposing new sanctions. The list of the UN Security Council to this effect, includes taking measures to restore back security to Darfur especially through dismantling the Jangaweid militia weapons and facilitating the access of humanitarian aid to the refugees.

The Sudanese authorities confirm that it has actually started the agreed upon work program with the UN representative in Khartoum, Yan Brunik, and is waiting for facilitation from the UN Security Council.

The Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael said that " the program is being implemented to ensure more security and greater aid in the region." He said "we will succeed and want to make of the cooperation with the UN an example to be followed." Khartoum has to a great extent facilitated the measures provided for the access of humanitarian organizations to Darfur and deployed some 10,000 policemen to ensure the security of the camps of the refugees and reduced by 30% the state of alert in the army reserves with 1500 of them so far handed their weapons to the authority.