The Sudanese government last night strongly denied it had been running a “scorched earth campaign” in the western Darfur region, where entire villages have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.
Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, have been accused by the UN as well as several western governments of terrorising African villagers through rape, murder and pillage. With up to one million Sudanese displaced inside Darfur or escaping into Chad, the plight of the villagers has been termed the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”. In combative mood, the country’s foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, told the Guardian that though the militia activity might not be over it had been “reduced by 80 per cent”. The government was taking action to rein in the militias, the minister said. Full Story
