Speech #1090168948

Sudans envoys refused to attend last weeks United Nations meetings and the Government has rejected the introduction of a U.N. peacekeeping force. likening it to "western colonization." Most recently. the Government has issued an ultimatum to the African Union. demanding that it refrain from incorporating U.N. reinforcements or withdraw its peacekeepers from the country. The Sudanese Government insists that it will defeat rebel groups in Darfur on its own and has announced intentions to move more than 10.000 troops to the region. In effect. this amounts to sending the same soldiers who displaced Darfurs refugees to protect them. Over the past week. there has been a military buildup in Darfur. with witnesses reporting an influx of Sudanese military equipment and troops. which is in direct violation of Mays Darfur Peace Agreement. In fact. while the Security Council was debating how to end the violence in Darfur. the Sudanese military was indiscriminately bombing rebelheld villages. Firsthand sources report flight crews rolling bombs off plane ramps. a tactic often practiced by Government forces in their 21year civil war to devastate whole areas of southern Sudan. with nightmarish consequences for civilians. Meanwhile. the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly. The more than 2 million refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chadtwo thirds of them childrenare particularly susceptible to malaria. diarrhea. and other health problems and live in fear of forced recruitment by rebel fighters or bomb attacks by the military. This current escalation in instability seriously impedes the mobility of humanitarian organizations. preventing them from reaching civilians in Sudans most dangerous areas. The World Food Program reports that its existing food