You will pay for deaths, Hillary warns Bashir

WASHINGTON, Wednesday

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will be responsible for “every single death” caused by the expulsion of 13 foreign aid groups from Sudan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

“This is a horrendous situation that is going to cause untold misery and suffering for the people of Darfur, particularly those in the refugee camps,” Mrs Clinton said of Sudan’s decision to expel the aid groups earlier this month.

“The real question is what kind of pressure can be brought to bear on President Bashir and the government in Khartoum to understand that they will be held responsible for every single death that occurs in those camps,” she told reporters.

An administration official said separately that President Barack Obama had chosen retired Air Force General Scott Gration, a close friend who is knowledgeable about African issues, as his special envoy to Sudan.

International experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed in Sudan’s western Darfur region, while Bashir’s government says 10,000 have died. The conflict, which has displaced more than 2.7 million people, flared when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.

Replace with money

Khartoum ordered out the aid groups this month after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Bashir for atrocities committed in Darfur.

The Sudanese government accused them of helping the court.

Mrs Clinton said President Bashir’s government now had assumed “an even greater sense of responsibility and infamy in the eyes of the world.” She called on governments supporting him to push for the return of the aid workers, or fill the gaps themselves.

“They must replace with money and personnel those who have been expelled so that innocent lives are not lost and further undermined,” Mrs Clinton said.

The US has made concerted recent efforts to convince the Arab League, the African Union and others such as China with influence over Sudan, to press President Bashir to reverse course, said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

In a meeting last week with Chinese Foreign minister Yang Jiechi, President Barack Obama expressed his “deep concern” about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Darfur and asked Beijing to put pressure on Sudan’s government.

Meanwhile, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has condemned the latest attack on international peacekeepers in Darfur.
Eight gunmen attacked a group of international peacekeepers on patrol on Tuesday, killing one in what the force’s spokesman described as a “cold-blooded ambush.”

It was the first time a peacekeeper was killed in Darfur since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president on March 4, accusing him of war crimes in Darfur.

“UNAMID peacekeepers coming back from a patrol in Nyala, were ambushed by eight unidentified gunmen,” said Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the joint United Nations/African Union force.

“This was not a carjacking gone wrong,” he said. “This was a cold-blooded ambush. They were waiting for us.”

One peacekeeper was wounded in the exchange of fire and died en route to El Fasher, the UNAMID headquarters in north Darfur, Mr Saiki said.

“The secretary-general condemns this attack and is deeply concerned by the increased security threats faced by UNAMID in Darfur,” Mr Ban’s spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in a statement.

“He calls on all parties to fulfil their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN and UN.-associated personnel in Sudan.”

Travel abroad

In another development, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned the French Ambassador to inquire over statements attributed to the spokesman of the French Foreign ministry that Paris supports interception of President Bashir’s plane, should he travel abroad.

The French Ambassador, Mr Patrick Nicoloso, told Suna following a meeting with the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mutrif Siddig, that the statement, as reported by an Arab London-based newspaper, was not true.

Responding to a question by Suna, the French ambassador explained that his country is a member of the ICC and will implement the ICC decision within the French territories.

Dr Mutrif, on his part, asked the French Ambassador that France issues a statement or reply to the newspaper which published the statements, if France wanted to distance itself from them. The French ambassador promised to do so.

Mr Al-Sadig, said in a statement to Suna that the interception of any plane was against international law and was considered a piracy that is punished by law.

Reporting by Reuters and Suna.