Canada urges Sudan to stop Darfur attacks

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, paying his first official visit to Khartoum, on Tuesday urged the Sudanese government to stop attacks in the war-torn region of Darfur.

Bernier, who spoke after talks with Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor, is scheduled to visit North Darfur on Wednesday to meet the local governor in the state capital Al-Fasher and international peacekeepers.

"I urged the government to stop the military action in Darfur and stop attacks over civilians and work with the international community to be sure that the humanitarian people would be able to have access to Darfur," he said.

The Sudanese foreign minister denied civilians were ever targeted and called on Canada to mediate with the rebels, which have multiplied and fractured into numerous groups complicating efforts to mediate a peace.

"The government declared a unilateral ceasefire a long time ago. It was not responded to... We asked the Canadians to help talking with the leaders of the movements in Darfur," Alor told AFP.

"They (civilians) are caught in the middle. Sometimes it is inevitable for some of them to fall victims but... nobody targets civilians," he added.

A UN report last week accused Sudanese soldiers of rape and extensive looting during offensives in Darfur carried out with state-backed militias.

The conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed the lives of about 200,000 people and displaced 2.2 million, pits ethnic minority rebels who want a greater share of national resources against the Sudanese government.

Bernier also called on the government to implement fully a fragile peace agreement that ended two decades of a separate civil war between north and south in 2005.

On Thursday, he will travel to the southern capital Juba, where he is set to meet First Vice President and leader of south Sudan, Salva Kiir.

Ottawa has spent 338 million Canadian dollars (333 million US dollars) on peace, humanitarian and early recovery projects in Sudan since January 2006.

Canada's contribution to the international peacekeeping missions in Darfur and the rest of Sudan will include up to 50 army personnel, 25 civilian police and the loan of 100 armoured personnel carriers.