UN Secretary-General condemns new flare-up of fighting in South Darfur

18 Jan 2009

UN Secretary-General condemns new flare-up of fighting in South Darfur

New York, 15 January 2009  --  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned recent air and ground attacks involving national armed forces and rebel movements in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, as he renewed his call for an unconditional cessation of hostilities and a political solution to the violence.

“Military action is not a viable solution to ending the conflict in Darfur and can only result in the unwarranted death and suffering of the civilian population of Sudan,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

According to that statement, Mr. Ban received reports of aerial bombings in different locations in South Darfur and the Government of Sudan yesterday confirmed that Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) aircraft bombed rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) positions in southern Darfur’s Muhajeria area on 13 January.

“Such actions are in violation of both Security Council resolutions and relevant agreements,” the spokesperson affirmed, adding that the Secretary-General also received reports of clashes between the JEM and Sudan Liberation Army/ Minni Minawi (SLA/MM) in the Muhajeria area on 15 January.

Condemning all those attacks, Mr. Ban called on all parties in Darfur to commit to an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities and to intensify efforts to come to a comprehensive political agreement with the assistance of the African Union-UN Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassolé.

Fighting in Darfur erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen and causing an estimated 300,000 deaths, while forcing some 2.7 million people to flee their homes.