Brussels, 10/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - During his visit to Sudan and Chad from Friday 7 October to Sunday 9 October, the High Representative for EU External Policy, Javier Solana, condemned the upsurge in violence in Darfur and called for calm in this region where civil war has broken out. In telephone statements to AFP, Solana was highly critical of the ambush that caused the death of three soldiers from the African Union (AU) mission in Sudan (AMIS) and the death of its civilian employees on Saturday.
Javier Solana said everyone, including the rebels, should stop these attacks aimed at terrorising the civilian population to focus on the Abuja (Nigeria) peace talks. It is up to the Khartoum government to ensure that all, including the militia, behave in a constructive manner, and the AU must continue to ensure security in Darfur with the help of the international community, he explained. Solana also stressed that European support for Sudan and above all settlement of the Sudanese debt depend on significant headway being made on the Darfur issue. He met Sudanese officials, including the first vice-president of the new leader in the south, Salva Kiir, and President Omar Hassan el-Béchir, who welcomed the continuation of national reconciliation between north and south.
On Sunday 9 October, Javier Solana was in N'Djamena for talks with Chad's President Idriss Deby. Chad has taken in some 230,000 Sudanese refugees. On 26 September this year, 75 people, including 55 civilians, perished in an attack against the Chadian village of Madayoun (far eastern part of the country) by armed men from neighbouring Sudan. Between 180,000 and 300,000 people have lost their lives in the war in Darfur, and 2.6 million have been displaced.
In the meantime, on the ground, 38 AU soldiers were kidnapped by rebels in Darfur on Sunday but, according to an AFP release, most of them have now been released. Thirty-six members of the AU mission in Sudan have been released but two of them are still held captive, Noureddine Mezni, AU spokesman, told AFP on Monday 10 October. “The leader of the patrol, who is Senegalese, and a Sudanese translator, are still held by members of the breakaway group JEM (Movement for Justice and Equality)”, one of the two rebel movements in Darfur, the AU spokesman said.