- The prospect of western troops being sent to Sudan provoked
dire warnings of revenge yesterday.
-
- Leaflets were distributed at mosques in the capital,
Khartoum, urging Muslims to fight any "crusader" forces.
-
- The message, from a previously unknown group calling
itself the Army of Mohammed, read: "We have seen and heard of American
and British interference in Darfur and there is no doubt that this is a
crusader war that bears no relation to the citizens of Darfur. We call
upon you to speedily head towards Darfur and dig deep into the ground mass
graves prepared for the crusader army."
-
- Although millions of Sudanese are Christians or follow
traditional beliefs, groups such as the Army of Mohammed consider the country
a part of the Muslim world. Any western military presence on its soil would
be regarded as defilement.
-
- Tony Blair has not ruled out sending forces and Gen Sir
Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff, says that a brigade of 5,000
soldiers could be dispatched at short notice.
-
- The Islamic fundamentalist government which seized power
15 years ago has condemned any such operation and compared it to the invasion
of Iraq.
-
- Mustapha Osman Ismail, the foreign minister, denied that
the killings in Darfur, where Arab militias have driven a million black
Africans from their homes and left about 30,000 dead, amounted to genocide.
He said the conflict could be settled through peaceful dialogue.
-
- The European Union yesterday backed an American threat
of sanctions against Sudan, increasing pressure on the government to end
the crisis in the region.
-
- Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels appealed to the
United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution "with a view
to taking further action, including imposing sanctions", if the Khartoum
government failed to meet its international obligations.
-
- They said: "There are continuing reports about massive
human rights violations by the armed militia, including the Janjaweed,
including systematic rape of women."
-
- This month Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, imposed
a 90-day deadline on Khartoum to rein in pro-government Arab militias,
improve security and ensure the access of relief workers to the region.
-
- Mr Ismail claimed that Sudan was making "serious
efforts" to restore order in Darfur and that the regime would keep
its promise to disarm the Janjaweed gunmen.
-
- "We are doing what is right and we will continue
to do what is right," he said. He added that about 100 militiamen
had been arrested.
-
- An Oxfam flight with a cargo of pipework, latrines and
water purification equipment landed at Nyala, in southern Darfur, to help
ease the crisis.
-
- Lorries will take the equipment the remaining nine miles
to the Kalma refugee camp, which is home to more than 60,000 people.
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/
- 2004/07/27/wsudan27.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/27/ixworld.html
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