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UN refugee chief says Sudan, rebels must cooperate

Sudanese refugee Sadir Ibrahim, 15, displays his drawings depicting the violence he has witnessed in Darfur on Saturday at the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad. PHOTO: AP

Sudan's government is likely to grant some autonomy to the violence-wracked Darfur region, but the rebels should help to end the world's worst humanitarian crisis, UN High Commissioner for Refu-gees Ruud Lubbers said.

Lubbers, who called for Khartoum to grant more autonomy to the region at the start of his current tour of Chad and Sudan, said Khartoum risked alienating the world if it continued its attacks in Darfur, one of the nation's most politically and economically powerless areas.

"Sudan is under very great pressure," he said, adding that despite a "strange political atmosphere" the country was increasingly buckling under world opinion.

"The international community is watching Darfur with tremendous interest. It's not only Washington [which has called the violence in Darfur genocide] but also the Security Council and [Nigerian] President Obasanjo of the African Union.

"Sudan knows that, and I think will give Darfur limited autonomy under the framework of Khar-toum's territorial integrity."

The UN has called Darfur the world's worst current humanitarian crisis, and Germany has joined the US in describing the brutal campaign waged by Arab militias in Darfur as genocidal.

An estimated 50,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million have fled their homes, including 190,000 who have sought refuge in neighboring Chad.

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution which warns of possible sanctions, which Khartoum has termed "unjust and unfair" but promised to abide by.

The sanctions could affect Sudan's vital oil industry.

The bloodshed in Darfur began in February last year, when rebels demanded an end to the official neglect of violence and poverty in their region. The Sudanese government's response to the uprising was to give Arab militias known as Janjaweed a free rein to raid and pillage. The Janjaweed have been accused of widespread murder, rape and torture.

But Lubbers said the two rebel groups fighting in Darfur had a responsibility to end the violence by burying their differences.

"The government has an uphill task, because it has created the Janjaweed which is practicing violence ... but my message to the rebels is `You have achieved enough to sit down at the negotiating table, though you will be more successful if you agree on a first man [leader] to represent you. It is in your interest to start now.' Darfur has bled enough."

Lubbers also urged South African President Thabo Mbeki to join Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's efforts to end the violence in Darfur.

"Mbeki did many good things," he said. "He is a great leader, but if he gives his political weight to support President Obasanjo it would be a great thing. The world is looking to Africa to resolve its problems and President Mbeki's voice is very important."

The UN refugee chief expressed fears over rising local resentment in Chad, one of the world's poorest and most arid nations, that the refugees were using too much of their meager water and firewood resources.

"It's now more irritating than explosive, but we have to prevent it from growing into an explosion," he said, adding that many Chadians complain that the refugees are better off than themselves.
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