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Skriven 2006-05-08 23:34:50 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0605083) for Mon, 2006 May 8
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Remarks by the President on Peace Agreement in Sudan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 8, 2006

President Discusses Peace Agreement in Sudan
The Roosevelt Room

President's Remarks view

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Darfur Agreement: A Step toward Peace ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus:
Africa

11:43 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for
joining me, and I also want to thank Deputy Secretary of State Bob
Zoellick. He has just briefed me on his trip to Abuja, where he has played
a very important role in setting up a peace agreement between the
government of Sudan and a major rebel group in the Darfur region.

Congratulations on a job well done, Bob. Thank you.

Last week we saw the beginnings of hope for the people of Darfur. The
government of Sudan and the largest rebel group signed an agreement and
took a step toward peace. Many people worked hard for this achievement. I'm
particularly grateful for the leadership of President Obasanjo of Nigeria
and President Sassou-Nguesso of Congo. Deputy Secretary Zoellick told me of
their really fine work, and I had the honor of calling both of them to
thank them over the phone the other day. Their personal hands-on
involvement was vital.

We're still far away from our ultimate goal, which is the return of
millions of displaced people to their homes so they can have a life without
fear. But we can now see a way forward.

Sudan is one of the most diverse nations in Africa and one of the most
troubled countries in the world. A 22-year-old civil war between north and
south took more than 2 million lives before a peace agreement was made that
the United States helped to broker. About the same time, another conflict
was raging in the west, and that's in Sudan's vast Darfur region.

Darfur rebel groups had attacked government outposts. To fight that
rebellion, Sudan's regime armed and unleashed a horse-mounted militia
called the Janjaweed, which targeted not only rebels, but the tribes
thought to be supporting them. The Janjaweed murdered men, and they raped
women, and they beat children to death. They burned homes and farms, and
poisoned wells. They stole land to graze their own herds. Hundreds of
villages were destroyed, leaving a burnt and barren landscape.

About 200,000 people have died from conflict, famine and disease. And more
than 2 million were forced into camps inside and outside their country,
unable to plant crops, or rebuild their villages. I've called this massive
violence an act of genocide, because no other word captures the extent of
this tragedy.

A cease-fire was declared in this conflict in April 2004, but it has been
routinely violated by all sides. The Janjaweed continued to attack the
camps and rape women who ventured outside the fences for food and firewood.
The government took no effective action to disarm the militias. And the
rebels sometimes attacked food convoys and aid workers.

An African Union force of about 7,200 from the region has done all it can
to keep order, by patrolling an area nearly the size of Texas, and they
have reached the limits of their capabilities. With the peace agreement
signed on Friday, Darfur has a chance to begin anew. Sudan's government has
promised to disarm the Janjaweed by mid-October, and punish all those who
violate the cease-fire. The main rebel group has agreed to withdraw into
specified areas. Its forces will eventually be disarmed, as well, and some
of its units will be integrated into the national army and police.

The African Union will meet a week from today, urge its members to help
implement this new agreement.

Our goal in Darfur is this: We want civilians to return safely to their
villages and rebuild their lives. That work has begun and completing it
will require even greater effort by many nations. First, America and other
nations must act to prevent a humanitarian emergency, and then help rebuild
that country. America is the leading provider of humanitarian aid, and this
year alone we account for more than 85 percent of the food distributed by
the World Food Program in Sudan.

But the situation remains dire. The World Food Program has issued an appeal
for funds necessary to feed six million people over the next several
months. The United States has met our commitment, but other major donors
have not come through. As a result, this month the World Food Program was
forced to cut rations by half.

So I proposed in the emergency supplemental before Congress to increase
food aid to Sudan by another $225 million. I hope Congress will act swiftly
on this true emergency. To get food to Darfur quickly I've directed USAID
to ship emergency food stockpiles. I've directed five ships and ordered
them to be loaded with food and proceed immediately to Port Sudan. I've
ordered the emergency purchase of another 40,000 metric tons of food for
rapid shipment to Sudan. These actions will allow the World Food Program to
restore full food rations to the people of Darfur this summer.

Americans who wish to contribute money to help deliver relief to the people
of Darfur can find information about how to do so by going to the USAID
website at www.usaid.gov, and clicking on the section marked "Helping the
Sudanese People."

Moving forward, we cannot keep people healthy and fed without other
countries standing up and doing their part, as well. The European Union,
and nations like Canada, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Japan have
taken leadership on other humanitarian issues, and the people of Darfur
urgently need more of their help now.

In addition, the government of Sudan must allow all U.N. agencies to do
their work without hindrance. They should remove the visa and travel
restrictions that complicate relief efforts. And all sides must cease
attacks on relief workers.

And finally, the United States will be an active participant in the
Dutch-led reconstruction and development conference. And it's an important
conference. It will take place within the next couple of months, to help
the people get back on their feet so they can live normal lives in Darfur.

Second, America and other nations must work quickly to increase security on
the ground in Darfur. In the short-term, the African Union forces in Darfur
need better capabilities. So America is working with our NATO allies to get
those forces immediate assistance in the form of planning, logistics,
intelligence support and other help. And I urge members of the alliance to
contribute to this effort.

In the longer-term, the African Union troops must be the core of a larger
military force that is more mobile and more capable, which generates better
intelligence and is given a clear mandate to protect the civilians from
harm. So I'm dispatching Secretary Rice to address the U.N. Security
Council tomorrow. She's going to request a resolution that will accelerate
the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur. We're now working with the
U.N. to identify countries that contribute those troops so the peacekeeping
effort will be robust.

I've called on President -- I just called President Bashir of Sudan, both
to commend him on his work for this agreement, and to urge the government
to express clear support for a U.N. force. The vulnerable people of Darfur
deserve more than sympathy. They deserve the active protection that U.N.
peacekeepers can provide.

In recent weeks, we've seen drastically different responses to the
suffering in Darfur. In a recent audio tape, Osama bin Laden attacked
American efforts in Sudan and urged his followers to kill international
peacekeepers in Darfur. Once again, the terrorists are attempting to
exploit the misery of fellow Muslims and encourage more death. Once again,
America and other responsible nations are fighting misery and helping a
desperate region come back to life. And once again, the contrast could not
be more clear.

In late 2004 in Darfur, the Janjaweed attacked a village of a woman named
Zahara. They raped her, murdered her husband, and set fire to their home.
One of the attackers told her, "This year there's no god except us. We are
your god now." But you and I know that at all times, in all places, there
is a just God who sides with the suffering, and calls us to do the same.
America will not turn away from this tragedy. We will call genocide by its
rightful name, and we will stand up for the innocent until the peace of
Darfur is secured.

Thank you.

END 11:56 A.M. EDT

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