Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, has concluded that Darfur is now safe and secure and that “people are leading a normal daily life.” The comments came after the president embarked on a three-day tour across the Darfur region, which is roughly the size of France. Al-Bashir returned from the trip noting reconstruction projects such hospitals, wells, and a new soccer stadium. U.N. officials, however, report on daily clashes throughout the region.
The Darfur region of Sudan has been plagued by an ethnic cleansing campaign initiated by the government backed janjaweed paramilitary force. International experts state that roughly 200,000 people were killed and over 2.5 million displaced during the four-year current conflict. Sudanese officials, however, deny these numbers, saying the figures are closer to 9,000. The Sudanese interior minister, Zubeir Bashir Taha, said after the presidential tour that “there has been a lot of black propaganda about Darfur and Sudan, lies, hypocrisy, speaking about racial cleansing.” He blames U.S. president George W. Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair for the “black propaganda.”
Al-Bashir did not visit refugee camps during his tour of the region, nor did he meet with any victims of the conflict. He has been to the region in the past, but this is the first such tour since a peace agreement was brokered in May, 2006. Most of the international community recognize the atrocities in Darfur as genocide and the International Criminal Court has issued several arrest warrants for current cabinet ministers and militia leaders.
A hybrid African Union-United Nations force is expected to be deployed to the region over the coming months.
