Sudan ready for any UN actions over Darfur: FM

Sudan is ready for any action that the United Nations might take over the situation in the west region of Darfur, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said on Sunday.

"We are ready for all options to be taken by the UN including military action against us," he told a press conference.

Ismail said the government has taken security measures to meet the UN demands for the Darfur region.

As for the upcoming peace talks in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Ismail said the government was ready to attend the talks, if the Darfur rebels did not seek to impose conditions.

"We are going to Abuja with no conditions and we urge the rebels to go also without any preconditions," he said.

The talks were scheduled to start on Monday between the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM), two rebel groups in Darfur, and the Sudanese government.

In July, peace talks between the Sudanese government and the two groups ended without any progress in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Ismail also noted that the Rwandan soldiers deployed in Darfur are only responsible for protecting the observers of the African Union (AU). It made no sense to say the Rwandan forces are on a peace-keeping mission.

He revealed the Sudanese Health Ministry is working with the World Health Organization to track the health of the 150-odd-men Rwandan force. Anyone infected with HIV/AIDS virus will be sent home immediately.

The tremendous efforts by the Sudanese authorities to seek an end to the Darfur crisis have made many African countries tune up their attitudes towards Sudan, the official added.

Moreover, Ismail urged the US Congress to "stop implementing Israeli and Jewish interests" in Darfur as it passed a resolution on July declaring "the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide."

Khartoum newspapers reported on Sunday that the Sudanese government has provided the United Nations with a list of 30 most wanted Janjaweed militiamen who are held responsible for the destruction of villages, the murder and rape of civilians in Darfur.

The list was presented by Sudan's Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Othman Yassin to the UN Human Rights Commission's international observer Emanuel Akoy.

"The government does not deny that human rights abuses occur and it will not protect those who commit them, " the Sudanese official said on Sunday.

Among the list are two police officers believed to have collaborated with the Janjaweed militia in torching villages in the region, and two members of the paramilitary Popular Defense Forces (PDF) accused of rape.

Also on Sunday, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo proposed to give a greater role to the AU troops in restoring peace to Darfur.

Obasanjo, also current AU chairman, said in a live television show, "I believe that the AU protection force with the observers and government of Sudan must work together to garrison the rebels and put them in a position where the arms are collected."

Darfur, which has witnessed an 18-month conflict between the Janjaweed and two African rebel groups, with over 10,000 people killed and one million people displaced, is considered the site of the worst humanitarian crisis by the United Nations.