Darfur crisis on brink of deepening: US envoy

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is "on the brink of deepening," US envoy Scott Gration said on Saturday of the war-ravaged Sudanese region, calling for renewed co-operation with the government and an end to hostilities. "I came away very concerned about what I saw and believe that we are on the brink of a deepening crisis in Darfur," he told journalists after a morning visit to the Zam Zam displaced persons camp in region's north.
"We have to come up with a solution on the ground within the next few weeks." Gration was speaking a month to the day after the government expelled 13 international aid agencies in protest at an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Dafur. He said it was imperative to get assistance into the country "so that these people don't die and they don't incur any more suffering," but also expressed confidence that "this crisis can be avoided."
"What I see as immediate problems are water and health care," he said, arguing that the "crisis can be prevented and mitigated by coming up with a flexible, creative and workable plan to ensure these folks can have access to critical medical sanitation and nutrition assistance too." The expelled agencies had distributed food, offered medical care and provided access to water to some 2.7 million people displaced by civil war in Darfur.
Gration reached out to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as an initial step with the hope of widening the scope for others eventually. "We want to work with Sudanese NGOs. I believe they have the capability to fill some of the gaps in terms of food." "We need an environment where we can use all sources, NGO help, maybe NGOs that come in from Arab nations, additional NGOs from traditional donor countries and maybe a workable solution for some of the people that have been working in the area historically."
The retired air force general said there also needed to be a political solution to the Darfur conflict. "We all have to embark on a very aggressive short-term process to bring peace to this region," he said. "I believe we can all work together and that means the rebels groups and the government and other folks that have an interest here to come up with a solution that works for everybody."
Gration began his visit on Thursday with an appeal for stronger relations with Khartoum, meeting with several Sudanese officials. On Friday, he met Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, who told reporters the new US administration had "a much more positive attitude" toward the Islamic world.
US President Barack Obama had said his envoy would try to kickstart discussions between rebels and the government in order to end the conflict that has killed at least 300,000 people since 2003. The Sudan government puts the death toll from the six-year war at 10,000. Obama, speaking on Monday, said he hoped to find a way for humanitarian workers to resume their work in Darfur.
"We have to figure out a mechanism to get those NGOs back in place, to reverse that decision, or to find some mechanism whereby we avert an enormous humanitarian crisis," Obama said. The Darfur question has garnered much attention in the United States, where groups such as "Save Darfur" are pushing for a solution to the war. The Sudanese president has remained defiant about his government's decision to expel the aid agencies.
"In one year we will Sudanise all the aid on the ground and we can fill the gap in food distribution within one year because the Sudanese Red Crescent already distributes 45 percent of the food in Darfur," Beshir said during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement signed a deal in February aimed at holding peace talks, but the JEM has indicated it would back out if Khartoum does not authorise the return of the aid agencies. Sudanese-US relations have been strained since the mid-1990s. The US had accused Sudan of harbouring al Qaeda members and in 1997 imposed sanctions against the country before launching a missile strike on Khartoum one year later.