Sudan Violence 'Is Not State-Sponsored'

News Article by The Scotsman posted on June 01, 2004

The Scotsman
By Joe Churcher

Militia violence in Sudan which has killed tens of thousands and driven up to a million people from their homes in Sudan is not state-sponsored ethnic cleansing, the country’s ambassador insisted today.

Dr Hassan Abdin said the Sudanese government had never condoned or armed the Janjaweed militia which has been involved in the killings, mass rapes and village burning in the Durfar region.

International groups including Amnesty International have suggested state involvement in forcing out the black African population.

International Development Minister Hilary Benn is due to visit the region to assess the scale of the humanitarian crisis already considered the world’s worst.

Dr Abdin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: 'These militias are self- armed groups. They have never been armed by the Sudan government, their activities have never been condoned by the Sudanese government.'

'The government has never, is not, pursuing ethnic cleansing policies at all.'

The Janjaweed had been proclaimed illegal, he added.

He said the use of the term ethnic cleansing was 'unfortunate' and said the displaced people had simply been 'caught in the crossfire' of the civil war.

'This happens in every war. These people are fleeing not because of a government policy of making them flee their homes but because of the war itself ... and the rebel groups have been terrorising them.'

The government’s main aim was to stop the war 'without going into blaming and shaming', he said.

'Tremendous' progress was simply not being reported, he complained.

'The war has practically stopped. There is a ceasefire. As we speak, monitors are taking their place on the ground.'