Violence continues to affect aid operations in Darfur - agencies

Violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur has continued to affect humanitarian operations during the past two weeks, international humanitarian agencies said on Monday. The Danish Refugee Council reported that a local staff member was shot and killed on Friday evening in Golo, in the Jebel Marra region of West Darfur state. "We don't know who is responsible for this tragic incident, which happened when our staff member was off duty, but investigations are ongoing," Anne-Sophie Laenkholm, programme coordinator for the Danish Refugee Council, told IRIN. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported ongoing insecurity in the region was adversely affecting its food distributions. On 6 April, a truck hired by a WFP partner organisation joined a WFP convoy travelling to Malha in North Darfur state. When the convoy stopped in Cindi town, the truck with 25 mt of food was detained along with the driver, while the WFP convoy was allowed to continue. "We don't know exactly who did this or where the truck and the driver are at the moment," Peter Smerdon, senior WFP spokesperson, told IRIN. "Currently, we still have 12 WFP trucks missing, which have been stolen during various incidents in March, January and November." Ongoing insecurity was impeding efforts to help people who lacked even the most basic necessities and were becoming increasingly dependent on external aid, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. "Until now we have not changed our operations in Darfur, but we are very concerned about the ongoing insecurity," Lorena Brander, spokesperson for the ICRC in Khartoum, told IRIN. Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on Thursday discussed the North-South peace agreement and the situation in Darfur with the Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Uthman Ismail, and the first vice president, Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, as well as with representatives of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and a number of tribal leaders from Darfur. "We think that the North-South accord has the potential to be an historic accord. Not only for North-South relations, but for all of Sudan and, we hope, for this part of Africa," Zoellick told reporters in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Thursday, referring to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A signed on 9 January in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, ending 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan. "But at the same time, as I've emphasised, if the government of Khartoum is associated with terrible loss of life in Darfur, it will be very difficult for my government and others to be able to support that government," Zoellick warned. Last year, Washington claimed the atrocities in Darfur amounted to genocide, a charge Khartoum rejected. "I think the government can and should do a lot. There are tribal disputes in their militia [in Darfur] that may be out of anybody's control, but I think the basic formula here is the government should take every effort it can to stop the militias," he added. In response, Taha stressed the peace agreement had laid down a complete framework for resolving the other problems in the country, the official Sudan News Agency, SUNA, reported on Thursday. While lauding the US support to Sudan during the Oslo donor conference, the first vice president reaffirmed the government's keenness on finding a peaceful solution for Darfur and ensuring the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need. According to SUNA, Ismail told Zoellick that "it is unjust" to attribute all that happened in Darfur to the Sudanese government and stressed the Darfur rebels should also be blamed for their failure to observe the ceasefire agreements. On 12 April, speaking to press at a donor's conference in Oslo, Norway, after the countries attending pledged US $4.5 billion, Zoellick had warned that continued US support and assistance for Sudan would depend on whether the Sudanese government acted quickly to end the conflict in Darfur. The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to it, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. Over 2.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of whom are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.