SUDAN: The most senior United Nations envoy for the prevention of genocide said on Monday that Arab militias had escalated their campaign of violence against civilians in Darfur, Sudan, mounting an unprecedented pair of attacks against camps for displaced families.
Juan Mendez, special adviser to UN secretary general Kofi Annan, said Khartoum had not abided by a long-standing Security Council order to establish a "plan to disarm" the Sudanese-backed Arab militiamen, who stand accused of driving more than two million tribal Africans from their homes since 2003.
"I found the situation much more dangerous and worrisome than I expected it to be," said Mr Mendez, who just completed a second visit to the region. "Until last week there have never been concerted, massive attacks of an indiscriminate nature against civilians" in camps in Darfur.
Mr Mendez also told reporters that governments had an obligation to co-operate with the International Criminal Court, which has begun an investigation into alleged war crimes in Darfur.
The US opposes the Hague-based court, which it believes may conduct politically motivated investigations into US military actions. Congress has also passed legislation that limits US co-operation with the court.
Mr Mendez's news conference came shortly after he presented a report on his findings to the Security Council. He had hoped to provide the council with a personal briefing, but was prevented from addressing the council by the US and Sudan's three closest allies on the council, Russia, China and Algeria.
US ambassador John Bolton said the Security Council had sufficient evidence of abuses to take action. Another briefing on the matter would simply distract the 15-nation council from making the hard decisions needed to halt the violence. - (LA Times-Washington Post Service)