UN envoy cites 'indications' rebels killed humanitarian workers in Darfur

The top United Nations envoy for Sudan said today there were indications rebels killed two humanitarian workers in the strife-torn western Darfur region and he called on the international community to hold any side to the conflict, whether the Government or rebels, responsible for actions committed by its forces.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, said that although it was not yet fully clear, "we have indications" that the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) was responsible for the attack, which killed two national workers for Save the Children (UK) over the weekend.

"Even if it is not a premeditated murder but on the basis of SLA soldiers who just decided themselves to kill humanitarian workers, in my view it is extremely important for the international community to hold the SLA leadership responsible for all wrong-doings of all of their soldiers," he told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

"The same, of course, would hold for any other group, JEM or Government, if there would be so-called incidents," he added in reference to the rebel Justice and Equality Movement. "Any leadership of any organization is responsible for the whole of the organization, for the quality of discipline, also for the lack of quality of discipline."

Mr. Pronk was in New York for discussions with the UN administration on his mission to bring peace to Africa's largest country, where talks to end two decades of war between the Government and southern rebels are deemed close to success but fighting continues in Darfur, which the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

In its latest "humanitarian profile" on Darfur today, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) reported that an estimated 1.65 million people had been displaced by the fighting, with more than 2.2 million affected by the conflict, in which Janjaweed militias stand accused of killing and raping thousands of villagers after rebels took up arms last year to demand a greater share of economic resources.

Food was delivered to 57 per cent of those affected, while 61 per cent received shelter and 43 per cent had access to clean water, the report said. Increased banditry and deterioration in the security situation continue to pose a major threat to improvement in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, it added.

But, Mr. Pronk said, "there is no room for scepticism any more. We are going to make it work."

He added that there could be no solution to the Darfur crisis without a successful conclusion to the peace talks on the conflict between the Government and the southern rebels, where "the mood is good and I would say the chances are positive."

He put the odds on success at 2 to 3, although there still remained the "extremely difficult" bone of contention on the size and financing of the army. He estimated the strength of an eventual UN peacekeeping force in the south at 9,000 to 10,000 soldiers.

Last month the Government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed a memorandum in front of an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council in Nairobi, pledging to complete their peace agreement by 31 December.

Calling peace in the south an essential requirement for a solution to the Darfur crisis, he noted that such an accord would entail a new constitution, a devolution of power and the presence of southern former rebels in the Government who would be able to understand the problems in the west.

And he praised the 900 African Union (AU) ceasefire monitors at present in Darfur, who are eventually meant to total some 4,000. "Sometimes Western observers think they are better than the Africans," he said. "It is not true. They are doing an excellent job."

Video of press briefing [42mins]