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Darfur Has Chance To "Begin Anew," but Situation "Remains Dire"

08 May 2006

President Bush speaks out on Darfur, Rice to address U.N. Security Council

By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- With the recent peace agreement signed in Abuja, Nigeria, Sudan's Darfur region has the chance to "begin anew" but the situation there remains "dire," President Bush warned May 8, as he outlined new emergency food shipments and other steps his administration is taking to help those still suffering in Darfur.

Bush spoke to reporters on Darfur at the White House flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, who just had returned from Abuja. Bush said Rice will address the U.N. Security Council at a May 9 ministerial-level meeting to discuss humanitarian and security issues in Darfur and will submit a resolution that would accelerate the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur.

The United States has circulated a draft resolution that would accelerate planning and assistance for both the transition period from the African Union force (AMIS) to a much larger and robust U.N. peacekeeping mission and the U.N. mission itself.   The resolution also calls for expanding the mandate of the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to support the implementation of the new peace agreement.

In New York, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told reporters May 8 the United States sees the resolution as "a critical step to accelerate the transition to the U.N. peacekeeping force, given that the African Union Mission in Sudan force has basically reached its limit." 

"We want the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping force as soon as possible," the ambassador said.

The United States praised the Darfur Peace Agreement, signed May 5 in Abuja, between the government of Sudan and the principal rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), as a vital step in ending the suffering of the people of Darfur and providing an opportunity for national peace and reconciliation.  The accord provides for detailed, verifiable steps to disarm and neutralize the Jingaweit and other armed militia groups, and opens the way for economic recovery and integration of the former combatants and people of Darfur into the political process.  (See related article.)

BUSH ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL FOOD AID FOR DARFUR

President Bush also announced new emergency U.S. food shipments to Darfur and said he has asked Congress to approve $225 million in emergency funding for food aid. "I hope Congress will act swiftly on this true emergency," he said, in which some 200,000 have died from conflict, famine and disease and more than 2 million have been displaced.

The United States and other nations, Bush said, must act to prevent a humanitarian emergency and then help rebuild the Darfur region.  The United States, he said, is the leading provider of humanitarian aid to Sudan and this year alone provides more than 85 percent of the food distributed by the World Food Program there.

Despite this aid however, he warned the situation "remains dire."

The World Food Program has issued an appeal for funds necessary to feed 6 million people over the next several months, he told reporters. While the United States has met its commitment, he lamented that other major donors have not yet come through. As a result, the World Food Program has been forced to cut rations by half, he said.

To get food to Darfur quickly, Bush said he has directed that five ships be loaded with food and proceed immediately to Port Sudan, and he ordered the emergency purchase of another 40,000 metric tons of food for rapid shipment.

"These actions will allow the World Food Program to restore full food rations to the people of Darfur this summer," he said.

Bush called on the international donor community to do its part.  "Moving forward, we cannot keep people healthy and fed without other countries standing up and doing their part as well. The European Union, nations like Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan, have taken leadership on other humanitarian issues and the people of Darfur urgently need more of their help now."

The president called on the government of Sudan to allow all U.N. agencies to do their work "without hindrance … [and] remove the visa and travel restrictions that complicate relief efforts. And all sides must cease attacks on relief workers.”

Bush pledged the United States will be an "active participant" in an "important" Dutch-led reconstruction and development conference that will take place in the next few months to help the people of Darfur.

INCREASING SECURITY IN DARFUR

The United States and other countries must work to help increase security levels on the ground in Darfur, Bush said.

"In the short term," he said, "the African Union forces in Darfur need better capabilities." As such, he said, the United States is working with its NATO allies to get those forces the immediate assistance they need in the form of planning, logistics, intelligence support and other help. Bush urged all members of the alliance to contribute further to this effort.

In the longer term, Bush told reporters, the African Union forces must be the core of a larger military force that is more mobile and more capable, generates better intelligence and has been given a clear mandate to protect civilians from harm.

Bush said his administration is working with the United Nations to identify countries that can contribute troops so "the peacekeeping effort can be robust."

The president said he had just called President Umar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir of Sudan "to commend him for his work on this agreement, and to urge the government to express clear support for a U.N. force. The people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy. They deserve the active protection that U.N. peacekeepers can provide." 

Bush said Osama bin Laden, in a recent audiotape, attacked American efforts in Sudan and urged his followers to kill international peacekeepers in Darfur. "Once again, the terrorists are attempting to exploit the misery of fellow Muslims and encourage more death. Once again, America and other responsible nations are fighting misery and helping a desperate region come back to life. Once again, the contrast cannot be more clear," the president said.

"America will not turn away from this tragedy. We will call genocide by its rightful name and we will stand up for the innocent until the peace of Darfur is secured," he said.

The full text of a White House statement on the Darfur Peace Agreement and a transcript of Bush's remarks are available on the White House Web site.

Facts sheets on the Darfur Peace Agreement and the Humanitarian Situation in Darfur are available on the State Department Web site.  

For more information on the Sudan peace process, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)