US government urged to act on bombings

A statement released by the US Committee for Refugees condemned the US government for failing to speak out against the government bombing campaign in southern Sudan. It said in a statement released on Tuesday that the US government had been silent over the bombings because it was working towards increasing diplomatic relations with the Sudan government.

Executive director Roger Winter said in the statement that the air raids made a mockery of President Bill Clinton’s promises to “respond seriously to African humanitarian issues”. Winter said that the deliberate bombings had included attacks against US aid programmes and private international relief agencies. “The Clinton administration should act through the UN Security Council now to force an end to these escalating atrocities,” he said. The aim appeared to be an effort by the Sudanese government to force international aid workers out of southern Sudan and shut down life-saving support to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese civilians, the statement said.