Sudan destroyed hopes of peace

Sudan's air force killed or wounded about 100 people and forced thousands to flee when they bombed a town in western Sudan this week, a U.N. spokeswoman has said, quoting the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/politics/2002/07/11/32233.html ' target=_blank>African Union. NR Spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said Sudanese forces had bombed the Darfur town of Shangil Tobaya on Wednesday. "(The African Union) said there are around 100 casualties. They are not talking about a specific death toll," she told Reuters in Cairo by telephone on Friday. The fighting had forced the U.N. to withdraw staff from the area, she said. "Whenever we have incidents like that we withdraw our people," she said. The African Union is monitoring a shaky ceasefire signed in April last year between Sudanese government and rebels in the Darfur province, reports Reuters. Almost a 100 people were killed and wounded in a Sudanese air force bombardment in South Darfur on Wednesday, a UN spokeswoman said today. NGO field workers based in Shangil Tobaya, 40 miles south of El Fasher, reported witnessing bombs exploding on the ground and an air force Antonov circling overhead on Wednesday afternoon. Later the same day, the African Union, which has 1,400 cease-fire monitors and protection troops in Darfur, confirmed there was an aerial bombardment and called it a “major violation” of the cease-fire, tells the Scotsman. According to CBC News, aid agency workers say there are an unknown number of casualties. The bombing is described as a major ceasefire violation. Darfur rebels have long said the government has been using its air force against civilians, but Khartoum has always denied doing so. Meanwhile, the United States is now lobbying the UN Security Council to set up a new court for war crimes suspects in the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/367/ ' target=_blank>Darfur region. The &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2002/05/07/28332.html ' target=_blank>International Criminal Court in The Hague began operating a year ago as the first permanent global criminal court to try individuals for genocide and human rights abuses. But the U.S. opted out because of concerns about frivolous lawsuits being mounted against U.S. soldiers abroad. Europeans are refusing to subsidize another court with the same purpose.

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