US says Darfur truce monitor agreement 'crucial' to peace

Saturday May 29th, 2004.

WASHINGTON, May 28 (AFP) -- The United States said that an agreement between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels on the deployment of truce observers was key to restoring peace to the region but repeated urgent calls for immediate distribution of humanitarian aid.

"We think this is a crucial step toward establishing peace in Darfur, because it will enable international monitoring of the cease-fire," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"Continuing violence at Darfur is the greatest obstacle to humanitarian assistance reaching the people in need," he told reporters after the agreement on monitoring was reached in talks hosted by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The deal covers the deployment of at least six observers next week as well as details of the composition and role of a ceasefire commission provided for by the truce which was signed in April, according to AU officials.

Khartoum and two rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement, have been at war since February 2003 in Darfur. At least 10,000 people have been killed over the last 15 months and more than 100,000 Darfur refugees have fled into neighboring Chad.

Hundreds of thousands are now at risk of starvation because the conflict has prevented crops being harvested. The United Nations has described the situation in Darfur as the world's worst current humanitarian catastrophe.

The Sudanese government has been widely accused of conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur with the help of local militia groups and of targetting civilians. Khartoum has also been charged hindering relief efforts in Darfur.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday that Sudanese authorities appeared to be responding favorably to pressure to ease conditions for relief workers but added that the impending rainy season -- during which many roads become impassable -- made the situation particularly urgent.

"This situation is dire," he told reporters at the State Department's Foreign Press Center.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people who are in need, and we need to move faster. We need to get more relief supplies in there. We need to get more relief personnel in there."