The Sudan Crisis

Mbeki calls for solution to Sudan crisis

President Mbeki called for an immediate end to the conflict

January 02, 2005, 08:30

President Thabo Mbeki has called for an immediate political solution to the humanitarian crisis and conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur. President Mbeki has visited refugee camps and interacted with international aid agencies. Mbeki later addressed the country's national assembly in the capital Khartoum.

An estimated two million people have died - mostly from famine - in a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan. Conflict broke out in 1983 after rebels form the mainly Christian south took up arms against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. The rebels claim to be fighting for better treatment and self-determination.

The Naivasha peace deal seeks to resolve the north-south conflict. A December 31 deadline has been set by the United Nations Security Council for its signing. In western Sudan, an estimated two million people have been affected by and tens of thousands have died in a separate conflict between blacks and Arabs in Darfur.

Violence broke out in the region last January when two African armed groups rebelled over alleged unjust treatment by the government of Sudan. Pro-government militias retaliated with attacks on villages in what UN officials have termed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.

South Africa currently chairs an African Union (AU) committee on the post-conflict reconstruction of war-affected areas in the Sudan. The end of the Sudanese conflict would enable the African continent, through the committee, to turn its focus to that country's socio-economic development, the foreign affairs statement said. - Additional reporting by Sapa