Annan calls on Sudan to stabilize Darfur

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday that Sudan must show determination to stabilize the situation in the troubled Darfur region, west Sudan, if it wants to evade international sanctions.

"They must show demonstrably that they are determined, that they are serious, and that they are protecting the people," Annan told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

"And this has to be seen by the people, and felt by the people,not by public declarations," he stressed.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution last Friday that threatened to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on Sudan ifit fails to rein in the marauding Arab militia in Darfur. The militia has been accused of cruelly attacking black Africans in Darfur and blamed for the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the region.

The resolution required Annan to report monthly to the council on Sudan's compliance. His first report will be due on Aug. 30.

Annan denied he agreed to give the Sudanese government 90 days to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed.

He said that the agreement he reached with Sudan on July 1 was a 90-day humanitarian emergency plan, which was "a separate issue from the government's responsibility to protect its people."

The UN chief also dismissed speculations that the Security Council gave Sudan only 30 days to disarm the militia and stabilize Darfur.

The council "warns them to demonstrate within a month that thatis being done. They want to see results on the ground," he explained. "I don't think even the council resolution says they should do it within a month."

Darfur has been labeled as a site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A 17-month conflict between two rebel groups,formed by black tribes in the region, and the government and the militia has left up to 30,000 people dead and more than 1 million internally displaced. Another 150,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring Chad.

Khartoum, which denied having any links with the militia, said on Monday it has dispatched 5,000 policemen to Darfur to crack down on the militia.

Source: Xinhua