U.S. lawmakers study Sudan crisis
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Two U.S. Republican lawmakers arrived in Sudan on Saturday to inspect the humanitarian crisis in the embattled Darfur region, a U.S. Embassy official said.
Sen. Sam Brownback, from Kansas, and Rep. Frank Wolf, from Virginia, arrived in the capital, Khartoum, late Saturday, and are expected to travel to Darfur, in western Sudan, today, the official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
They made no comment to reporters on arrival.
Their visit to Darfur, scene of a 16-month conflict between black African villagers and Arab militiamen that has reportedly left 30,000 people dead and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes, will be the first by U.S. lawmakers to the region.
A similar trip is planned for next week by Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who plan to press Sudan’s government to end the fighting.
Wolf, chairman of the subcommittee that controls the Justice Department’s budget, and Brownback are to visit camps housing thousands of displaced villagers in El Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The lawmakers were expected to meet Sudanese government officials as well as members of the African Union committee monitoring the cease-fire agreement signed by the government and Darfur’s two rebel groups – the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army in April.
Foreign governments and human rights groups accuse Sudan’s Islamic government of backing Arab militias in an ethnic cleansing campaign against African villagers. Sudanese officials reject the claims and say the warring sides are clashing over land and water resources.
Both sides accuse the other of violating the cease-fire deal.
In Ireland during an EU-U.S. summit Saturday, the European Union and the United States issued a joint statement strongly condemning the violence and called for a lasting peace agreement between warring factions.
On Friday, Annan raised the possibility of sending international troops to Darfur in case the Sudanese government was unable ensure the safety of the civilians in the area.