SUDAN:Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir has dismissed criticism by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, saying the UN was making unreasonable demands and turning a blind eye to the activities of Darfur rebels.
Mr Annan said on Thursday that the Sudanese government might have to answer "individually and collectively" for failing to protect the people of the troubled western region from killings, rape and destruction.
He has been trying without success to persuade Mr Bashir to accept a "hybrid" UN-African Union peace force in Darfur, where tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million people driven from their homes since early 2003.
However, Mr Bashir told a news conference in Khartoum yesterday that the rebel National Redemption Front was responsible for the recent trouble in Darfur, which has worsened despite a partial peace agreement signed in Nigeria in May.
"If there are any problems in Darfur, it is because of the activities of the National Redemption Front, which was formed after the Abuja agreement," the president said.
The front brings together Darfur rebel groups which rejected the agreement, signed in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, by the government and only one major rebel faction.
"This group is receiving huge support in terms of weapons, equipment and vehicles through the border and this has not been condemned [ by the United Nations and others]," Mr Bashir said, referring to the border between Darfur and neighbouring Chad.
"How come we are prevented from standing against the Redemption Front and at the same time called upon to protect the citizens from them?"
Mr Annan had said the Sudanese government had a responsibility to protect its citizens and had clearly failed to do so.
•A statement from aid agency Goal last night said the continuing deterioration of the security situation in Darfur had forced it to withdraw all remaining international staff from the region.
A number of aid agencies evacuated staff from Kutum in northern Darfur yesterday after unidentified gunmen attacked a house used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, aid workers said.