US Tells Sudan to Disarm Militia and Accept Peacekeepers

The US today called on the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militia, who are accused by human rights groups of terrorising civilians in Darfur.

Directly contradicting the Sudanese government, the US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte told reporters that Khartoum must clamp down on the Janjaweed, or "devils on horseback".

"The government of Sudan must disarm the Janjaweed, the Arab militias that we all know could not exist without the Sudanese government's active support," Mr Negroponte told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Sudan.

The Sudanese government has consistently denied backing the Janjaweed despite accusations from the UN and the African Union (AU) that it is behind the militia.

The International Criminal Court has blamed the Janjaweed for numerous cases of killing, rape, arson and looting in the western Sudanese region that has been wracked by rebellion and counter-insurgency for the past four years.

Mr Negroponte's visit to Sudan was the latest effort by the international community to persuade Sudan to accept 20,000 UN troops as part of a hybrid peacekeeping force for Darfur. The AU has deployed 7,000 troops in Darfur, but they have been insufficient and under-equipped to deal with the situation.

In recognition of Khartoum's long-standing opposition to admitting western troops to Darfur, Mr Negroponte said a hybrid force would be predominantly African, and would be led by an African.

"We must move quickly to a larger hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force with a single unified chain of command that conforms to UN standards and practices," Mr Negroponte said.

About 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since the conflict flared in Darfur in 2003 after ethnic African tribes rebelled against Khartoum.

The government responded by sending the Janjaweed against the rebels, who have started making raids into neighbouring Chad in support of rebels seeking to overthrow the Chadian government the capital, N'Djamena.