UN welcomes Sudan's freezing of flights in Darfur

The UN has welcomed the decision taken by the Sudanese government to withdraw its military planes which are alleged to launch air raids against Darfur area to the west of Sudan.

The spokeswoman for the UN, Radia Ashouri, said that the UN was not notified officially of the decision, but considered it as very important and is following up the steps of implementing it on the ground.

The Sudanese government has repeatedly denied what was stated of its launching of raids against Darfur stated by several western organizations recently. The African unity organization said on January 26 that the Sudanese army launched a raid against southern Sudan and the organization considered that as a violation for the cease fire decision which its forces is supervising.

Several days after the statement of the African Unity organization, Ashouri quoted observers of the African organization as saying that the number of the victims of the air raids increased near Shangil Tobaya city to more than 100 killed or injured.

The conflict erupted in Darfur because of differences between the shepherds among the Bedouins and the population of the villages among peasants. Several western sides alleged that the subject is because of a conflict between the ethnic Arabs and the ethnic Africans. In 2002, the rebels announced military actions accusing the government accused of margining them and giving priority to the Arabs, while the government said that the ethnic Africans started their action at a western support in order to undermine peace in Sudan especially in the south. The rebels, however, accused al-Khartoum of arming the ethnic Arab militias known as Jangaweid to steal and burn non Arab villages. Khartoum denies any connection to al-Jangaweid.