From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Apr 18 2009 - 07:37:57 EDT
INTERVIEW-Kerry says ICC case no bar on Darfur peace drive
Sat 18 Apr 2009 7:10pm GMT
* Kerry says ICC case against Bashir has complicated matters
* Says urgent need for peace deal
* Kerry meets displaced Darfuris
By Alastair Sharp
EL FASHER, Sudan, April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry said on
Friday the International Criminal Court's war crimes charges against
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should not stop efforts to resolve
the Darfur conflict.
"Of course, there is no question it has complicated matters. We'll just have
to see where we go along the road," Kerry, who heads the U.S. Senate's
Foreign Relations Committee, told Reuters in an interview during a visit to
Darfur.
But he said: "The humanitarian issue and the issue of governments working
together transcends whatever external factors there may be."
Kerry, leading a congressional delegation to Sudan, said there was an urgent
need for a peace deal in the western Darfur region, where he met displaced
people and senior members of the joint United Nations and African Union
peacekeeping force.
"I could feel the anger in there, the frustration and the anger as the years
go by, and I think there is a sense of urgency," the former U.S.
presidential candidate said after talks at Al Salam refugee camp.
Kerry made his comments just days after Bashir struck a more conciliatory
tone towards Washington by welcoming U.S. President Barack Obama's overtures
to the Islamic world. Sudan has viewed the United States in the past as an
enemy.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5
million have been driven from their homes during almost six years of ethnic
and politically driven fighting in Sudan's west. Khartoum puts the death
toll at around 10,000.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for
Bashir on charges of masterminding war crimes in Darfur. Sudan expelled 13
foreign aid groups it accused of helping build the charges against Bashir.
AID RESUMPTION
Kerry, who says a new dialogue has been brought about by Obama's special
Sudan envoy Scott Gration, suggested diplomacy could eventually result in a
lifting of sanctions against Sudan and its removal from a U.S. list of state
sponsors of terrorism.
"Absolutely. That is entirely on the table. I can't tell you when, that's a
decision President Obama makes," said Kerry.
He told a group of about 100 people Washington had reached agreement with
Khartoum on a resumption of aid activities, but that the expelled aid groups
would not necessarily return.
"We have agreement that in the next weeks we will be back to 100 percent
capacity," said Kerry.
"Not every group will be guaranteed to be the same group."
Residents of some camps in Darfur have refused replacement aid administered
by local and government-run groups.
Al Salam resident Adam Ahmed Yacoub told Kerry he had been in the camp since
2004 when his town was attacked.
One woman said conditions in the camp had worsened since the international
aid groups were expelled, especially for women and children. "The woman is
the one who was raped and they are still being raped," she said.
Kerry was told at a briefing by the U.N. and African Union peacekeeping
mission that Darfur was now a low intensity conflict with outbursts of major
violence but that the border between Sudan and Chad was a major concern.
Chad and Sudan have long traded accusations of backing rebel movements in
the border regions.
Tribal dancers and drummers welcomed Kerry at the residence of North
Darfur's governor Osman Yusuf Kibir, who told him the United States had the
ability to solve the problem of Darfur.
"It is high time for the Obama administration to seize the opportunity to
realise peace in Sudan," said Kibir.
Kerry told Reuters this was a message he had received often during his
three-day visit.
"Everybody here has emphasised that the United States is the country with
the leverage and the ability to make a difference, so we have a
responsibility to do that," he said. "It's going to take a lot of lifting
and a lot of leverage." (Editing by Ralph Gowling)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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