Sudanese protest against threat of intervention

Tens of thousands of Sudanese marched on the UN headquarters in Khartoum yesterday in protest at the possibility of Western military intervention to combat a humanitarian crisis in the western region of Darfur.

Khartoum faces the threat of unspecified international sanctions if it does not show within 30 days that it is serious about disarming and prosecuting Janjaweed militia who have helped displace more than 1 million people in Darfur.

The UN envoy to Sudan stressed yesterday that the UN Security Council, which set the deadline, was not looking for a full solution to the crisis within that timeframe but proof of "substantial progress" towards security.

"There was some misunderstanding here in Khartoum that the council asked for a full solution of the conflict (in that period). That is impossible," envoy Jan Pronk told the BBC.

In Addis Ababa, a spokesman for the African Union (AU) said the organisation would boost the number of troops it would deploy in Darfur to protect truce monitors from 300 to 2,000, once the head of the AU's security body approved the proposal.

Protesters in Khartoum, many from organised pro-government groups but including many ordinary citizens, carried anti-American banners and chanted slogans attacking UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his close alignment with US policy.

"Annan, Annan, shame, shame," they shouted. "Annan, Annan, you coward. We will not be ruled by the Americans."

The organisers said at least 35,000 people took part in the protest - in line with independent assessments of the crowd.

The AU troop initiative, which was discussed and put forward by ministers in the AU's 15-member Peace and Security Council that includes Sudan, now awaits the signature of South African President Thabo Mbeki, the current head of the security body, AU spokesman Adam Thiam said.

The proposal was also discussed at the 53-member AU summit in Addis Ababa last month, and would also aim to broaden the original mandate of the AU force to include a peacekeeping role as well as protecting truce monitors in Darfur.

There are 96 unarmed AU observers in Darfur, and Sudan has reluctantly agreed to an armed force to protect them.

Hundreds of thousands of people have abandoned their homes in Darfur, mostly for fear of the Janjaweed, which the government has used as auxiliaries to try to suppress a rebellion by settled non-Arab peoples. The militias have raped, looted, killed and set fire to villages.

The protest yesterday reflected the government's success in convincing ordinary Sudanese that Western military intervention in Darfur is an imminent danger.

In fact, no countries other than those in the AU have gone beyond the preliminary planning stage, and the United States has shown no inclination to send troops to Darfur.