Sudan to start disarming Darfur militias next week: report

The Sudanese government is to start disarming the Arab militias in the western Sudanese region of Darfur next week as demanded by the UN Security Council, the pro-government Sudan Media Center reported on Thursday.

Brigadier General Jamal al-Hueres, police chief of North Darfur state, was quoted as saying that "the security and judicial commissions are going to start work disarming the uncontrolled militias in Darfur next week."

The disarmament of the militias "will be carried out both on a voluntary basis and through searches carried out by the police," he added.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution last Friday that threatened to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on Sudan if it 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.

Sudanese Minister of Information Al-Zhawi Ibrahim Malik warned on Tuesday that the government would deal with "extreme severity with those who refused to hand over their weapons".

The United Nations is to send a team to Addis Ababa to help the African Union (AU) set up a peacekeeping force in war-ravaged Darfur, where thousands of people face imminent starvation, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday.

The AU is considering an expansion of its 300 "protection force" to the Darfur region to about 2,000 to protect observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire and the estimated one million displaced civilians returning to their homes.

Source: Xinhua