Death rate in Darfur decreasing, general says

Africa News

Aug 6, 2009, 22:08 GMT

New York - The death rate in Sudan's troubled Darfur province is slowly declining, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission there said Thursday. General Martin Luther Agwai, the commander of the joint United Nations-African Union force, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that the situation was stabilizing but that there would be no solution to the crisis without a comprehensive peace process. In Darfur with about 120 to 150 people are now dying each month, he said. This compares to 'hundreds to thousands' in past years. Agwai is to step down as head of the force at the end of the month. The UN last month extended its mission, UNAMID, in Sudan through next year. UN troops joined the African Union troops in late 2007 and early 2008 to bolster efforts to stem the killing in western Sudan, which has been called genocide by Washington and other governments. According to the most recent report from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the mission still has not reached its approved strength. Of the 20,000 troops that are to be in place, only about 14,000 or 68 per cent have been deployed. Of the mandated 6,500 police officers, only 40 per cent are deployed. The conflict between black African rebels and Arabic militia on horseback who are backed by Khartoum has claimed more than 300,000 civilian lives since 2003. An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced while 4.7 million Darfurians are totally dependent on humanitarian aid.

Africa

Death rate in Darfur decreasing, general says

Africa News

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